Economic growth is expected to slip slightly to 3.1% annually in March following a slowing of growth in the March quarter.
Statistics New Zealand will on Wednesday release the March quarter national accounts, the balance of payments, followed by GDP (gross domestic product) figures on Thursday.
Westpac senior economist Michael Gordon said how the market reacted to an expected softer quarterly GDP read depended on how the cut in the official cash rate last week was received.
Westpac is forecasting quarterly economic growth of 0.6%, down from 0.8% in December and annual growth of 3.1%, down from 3.5% in December.
''The slower pace of growth we're forecasting for the March quarter does not, in our view, constitute such a weakening in demand.
''Details suggest domestic demand remained in fine form with the slowdown largely coming from temporary hits to production in the primary sectors.''
The main factors contributing to the lower growth forecasts in March were centred on the primary sectors, Mr Gordon said.
The first was in agriculture, specifically the spell of dry weather earlier this year which reduced milk production by 4% in seasonally adjusted terms.
The dry spell ended up being less severe than initially feared but even the return to normal levels of farm output would not provide as much of a boost to growth over the rest of the year as initially thought, he said.
The other potential negative was in the oil sector, although that was highly uncertain. Anecdotally, the plunge in world oil prices had ''knocked the stuffing'' out of onshore oil exploration and drilling but there was not enough data to guide a forecast.
''We also know the mining component of GDP is very volatile so the 5% downturn for the sector that we've pencilled in is far from outlandish.''
Looking past temporary factors, the indications were for solid growth almost across the board in the services sector which accounted for about 70% of the economy. Retail spending was a particular standout, recording a 2.7% jump in the March quarter on top of a 1.9% rise in the December quarter, Mr Gordon said.
Corroborating data showed a surge in overseas visitor spending over the past two quarters, implying spending by New Zealanders grew at a solid but more sustainable pace.
The construction sector also managed a solid gain, although the days of rampant growth appeared to be in the past.
Westpac expected the level of quake related building activity to peak by early next year, Mr Gordon said.
Housing repairs were nearing completion and new home builds appeared to be peaking. Commercial construction was now due to increase rapidly.
Westpac had also pencilled in a strong lift in the telecommunications sector, although as with the mining sector, that was based on anecdote rather than hard data.
The proliferation of on demand film and television services in recent months had reportedly led to a massive rise in broadband data usage, which was one of the indicators Statistics New Zealand used to calculate GDP for the sector.
Mr Gordon expected the annual current account deficit to widen from 3.2% to 3.6% of GDP.
Reporting the deficit on an annual basis meant it was affected by what was happening at the corresponding time a year ago when both prices and volumes of dairy exports were hitting record highs.
The subsequent steep fall in dairy export earnings would continue to drag the current account balance lower over the next year, he said.
