Economic growth has softened as the year has wore on and is likely to remain only moderate until mid-2013. Housing investment and house prices are set to cool somewhat in response to tighter mortgage rules to prevent households from becoming over-extended. The public sector is consolidating, and exports are being held back by poor competitiveness and weak global growth. Business investment should remain relatively strong, however, thanks to global demand for natural resources, low capital costs and corporate tax rates, and the high exchange rate, which is reducing the price of imported capital equipment.