Australia & New Zealand Economics Update RBNZ’s housing focus could bring forward rate hikes We doubt that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s new obligation to consider house prices will drastically change the outlook for monetary policy. But given that house price growth remains very strong... 26th February 2021 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Pessimistic RBNZ set to be surprised The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) sounded dovish when it left policy settings unchanged today, but we still expect the Bank to begin increasing rates next year. 24th February 2021 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Australia - Inflation to be stable despite stronger exchange rate While the exchange rate has strengthened sharply, goods prices are unlikely to fall. That should allow rising services prices to keep underlying inflation stable. 10th February 2021 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Australia - Employment in hardest-hit sectors set to bounce back With job losses during the pandemic concentrated in a handful of sectors and demand set to rebound as vaccines are rolled out, we think that the unemployment rate will fall to 5.5% by the end of this... 8th February 2021 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Australia - Dwellings investment to rebound this year The recent surge in building approvals has largely been driven by the HomeBuilder Grant and probably won’t last. But with home sales soaring and house prices rising, dwellings investment should... 3rd February 2021 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update RBA may extend QE one more time We are more upbeat about the outlook for the economy than the Reserve Bank of Australia. But the RBA seems keen to err on the side of caution. With the latest extension of its QE programme already... 3rd February 2021 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update RBA may end QE by mid-year The RBA today upgraded its labour market forecasts but noted that the recovery remained dependent on “significant fiscal and monetary support”. Indeed, the Bank extended its Bond Purchase Program by... 2nd February 2021 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Australia - Labour market scarring may prompt extension of QE Our base case remains that the RBA will end quantitative easing in April. However, one risk to that forecast is the rising share of long-term unemployment. 25th January 2021 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Australia - Budget deficit may narrow faster than most anticipate The fact that the government revised up its estimate for the underlying cash balance in 2020/21 by more than 1% of GDP since the October Budget underlines that the economy is recovering much faster... 17th December 2020 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Our key calls for 2021 We think that the recovery from the pandemic will be stronger than most anticipate. That means that the labour market will tighten rapidly, allowing central banks to end their bond purchases. The... 16th December 2020 · 4 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Australian banks unlikely to falter The capital ratios of Australian banks may decline a bit as loan deferrals come to an end and other policy support is withdrawn. But with capital ratios having almost doubled since the GFC and... 10th December 2020 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Australia - QE may not be extended in April The RBA still sounded cautious when it left policy settings unchanged today. But if our more optimistic forecasts for GDP growth and inflation are realised, the Bank may not decide to expand QE in... 1st December 2020 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - Sharp recovery means negative rates now unlikely New Zealand is likely to be one of the few countries where output had recovered to pre-virus levels in Q3. Taken together with the recent positive news on the vaccine, we no longer expect the RBNZ to... 30th November 2020 · 4 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Vaccine to reduce need for further monetary stimulus Australia and New Zealand will benefit less than other advanced economies from a vaccine due to their success in containing the virus. Even so, we’ve lifted our 2021 GDP growth forecasts a bit and no... 26th November 2020 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update RBNZ still likely to implement negative rates The Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s (RBNZ) decision to implement a funding for lending programme in December should provide some further stimulus on its own and is another step towards implementing... 11th November 2020 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Australia - Consumption to drive above-consensus recovery While card transaction data have overstated the health of consumer spending in recent years, we suspect they didn’t do so recently. As such, we’re willing to take the jump in transaction amounts in Q3... 9th November 2020 · 2 mins read
