WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund on Friday said that while New Zealand's strong economic prospects should moderate this year, the country's economy remains healthy and sheltered from external shocks.

The Washington-based lender said a combination of sound policies and reforms in the past two decades had "contributed to New Zealand's robust economic growth, made the economy more flexible and increased its resilience to external shocks."

While the country's pace of economic growth is poised to moderate somewhat this year, the IMF estimated that it averaged 4.4 per cent last year, up from 2.4 per cent in 2001.