The State Of The New Zealand Economy: A Balance-Sheet Recession? Further into the interview, Hickey mentioned that New Zealand was in a "balance-sheet recession". Campbell showed no curiosity as to what a 'balance-sheet recession' was; he had heard enough to sense that it was something he didn't want to know about. A balance-sheet recession is a recession where the principal modus operandi of businesses is survival from actual or imminent debt insolvency. Comparative Economic GrowthThe chart below compares the economic growth over the last three years, with a number of other comparable countries.