Australia & New Zealand Economics Update RBA becoming more confident in the economy The Reserve Bank of Australia may have left interest rates at 1.5% for the 14th month today, but its growing confidence in the outlook for activity and inflation may mean it will be prepared to signal... 3rd October 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - RBNZ remains one of the most dovish central banks There remains plenty of uncertainty around the formation of the next government and who will be the next permanent Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, but the one consistency is the dovish... 27th September 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand Activity Proxy (Jul.) Following the bounce back in GDP growth last quarter, the decline in our New Zealand Activity Proxy (NZAP) in July suggests that the economy lost some momentum at the start of the third quarter. That... 27th September 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - Post-election negotiations may influence economy The financial markets won’t worry too much about how long it takes the various parties to form a government after the weekend’s general election, but the negotiations could influence the outlook for... 25th September 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - Election may not dent the kiwi dollar much The outcome of the general election on Saturday may well alter the paths that New Zealand’s economy and the kiwi dollar tread over the next few years. But we doubt that any initial reaction would be... 20th September 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Near-term downside risks to dollar declining The recent rise of the Australian dollar to US$0.80 and developments overseas have led us to revise up our end-year forecast from US$0.70 to US$0.75. But we still believe that a fall in iron ore... 15th September 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update The RBA is stuck in neutral The Reserve Bank of Australia has now left interest rates at 1.5% for 13 months and we suspect the combination of subdued GDP growth, low inflation and a growing focus on financial stability will mean... 5th September 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand Activity Proxy (Jun.) The notable rise in our New Zealand Activity Proxy (NZAP) over the second quarter as a whole indicates that GDP growth may have accelerated from a disappointingly weak 0.5% q/q in the first quarter to... 21st August 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - RBNZ to markets: Forget about rate hikes Graeme Wheeler didn’t go out with a bang at his last policy meeting as Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand as interest rates were left at 1.75% for the ninth month in a row. But he stressed... 10th August 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update RBA hoping to hit its inflation target sooner The Reserve Bank of Australia’s new forecasts infer that it doesn’t think a dollar of US$0.80 will knock the economy off course. In fact, its new forecast that underlying inflation will rise to the 2... 4th August 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Dollar may still fall despite RBA’s reluctance to talk it down Even though the Reserve Bank of Australia today decided not to try and talk the dollar down after it left interest rates at 1.5%, we still think the dollar will eventually weaken from US$0.80 now to... 1st August 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand Activity Proxy (May) GDP growth was weaker than anticipated at the start of the year, but the pick-up in our New Zealand Activity Proxy (NZAP) in May is consistent with a bounce back in the second quarter. At this stage... 25th July 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update RBA’s fears about household indebtedness persist The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) left interest rates on hold at 1.5% for the tenth consecutive meeting today and retained its fairly optimistic tone on the outlook for economic growth in the... 4th July 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand Activity Proxy (Apr.) GDP growth was surprisingly weak in the first quarter and the slowdown in our New Zealand Activity Proxy (NZAP) in April suggests activity was subdued at the start of the second quarter too. However... 26th June 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - RBNZ won’t raise rates next year as markets expect The Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s decision to leave interest rates at 1.75% today and repeat its comment that they will stay there for a “considerable period” should prompt the financial markets to... 21st June 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Reports of a new GDP record are fake news Contrary to what you may have heard, the rise in GDP in the first quarter does not mean that Australia now holds the record for the longest period in modern history without a recession. It’s true that... 7th June 2017 · 1 min read
