Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Australia - QE will probably be extended beyond April The RBA didn’t disappoint when it cut interest rates and launched quantitative easing today. And even though it turned more optimistic about the economic outlook, we suspect it will expand its... 3rd November 2020 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update How much QE will the RBA deliver? The RBA’s assets will rise further over the coming months as banks draw down funding under the TFF. But so will the assets of other central banks. If the Bank wanted to catch up with the advanced... 21st October 2020 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Fiscal policy set to remain loose We estimate that the income tax cuts and other stimulus measures unveiled in today’s Budget will provide fiscal support of around 2.5% of GDP in 2021/22. That won’t prevent a major tightening in... 6th October 2020 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Australia - Bank to announce more easing in November The RBA kept policy settings unchanged today but signaled that more stimulus is forthcoming. We now expect the Bank to cut the cash rate target, the 3-year yield target and the interest rate on the... 6th October 2020 · 3 mins read
Global Economics Update Australia - Lessons from second virus waves The experience from second virus waves in Australia, New Zealand and Japan is that consumer spending falls even if governments don’t impose major restrictions. However, there are three key reasons why... 25th September 2020 · 4 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - RBNZ setting the stage for negative rates The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) continued to set the stage for negative rates today and we think the OCR will be cut into negative territory early next year. 23rd September 2020 · 3 mins read
Global Economics Update Australia - Lessons from Australia’s average inflation targeting Inflation has been close to the midpoint of the RBA’s 2-3% inflation target since its launch in the 1990s, but this has come at the expense of soaring house prices and household debt. Australia’s... 15th September 2020 · 4 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - Lower spending by National would be a drag Jacinda Ardern’s incumbent Labour party looks set to win a solid victory at New Zealand’s upcoming election. That might keep business confidence subdued, but it probably wouldn’t be as much of a drag... 9th September 2020 · 4 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Australia - Stealth QE doesn’t let RBA off the hook Proposals by the banking regulator and the RBA that banks will need to hold more government bonds could be interpreted as financial repression. However, the surge in the outstanding stock of... 8th September 2020 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Australia - RBA may still attempt to lower long-term yields The RBA today expanded its Term Funding Facility which should contribute to continued strong growth in the money supply. And while it didn’t indicate that additional stimulus is forthcoming, we still... 1st September 2020 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Resilience in Australia’s corporate profits unlikely to last The surge in corporate profits in Q2 happened despite a large drop in sales and mostly reflects the impact of the JobKeeper wage subsidy. With that subsidy being scaled back, corporate profits should... 31st August 2020 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Would negative rates work in New Zealand? Negative interest rates would not necessarily weaken the exchange rate, but they would almost certainly reduce bank lending rates. While they could result in lower lending margins, New Zealand’s banks... 20th August 2020 · 4 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - RBNZ is not done loosening yet The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) further expanded its quantitative easing programme at today’s meeting and we think the Bank will cut rates into negative territory next year. 12th August 2020 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update How far will Australian house prices fall? We predicted four months ago that Australian house prices would fall by 5-10% from their peak. The short-lived nature of the recent downturn and the fact that affordability is looking increasingly... 4th August 2020 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update RBA will have to expand asset purchases in earnest The RBA turned more pessimistic about the outlook for the economy when it kept policy settings unchanged today and we think it will engage in additional asset purchases before long. 4th August 2020 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Australia - State of disaster to slow recovery to a crawl The additional restrictions on activity imposed in Victoria this week to curb the renewed surge in virus cases will cause the recovery in output to slow markedly in Q3. 3rd August 2020 · 3 mins read
