Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - Risk of a step change under new RBNZ Governor Incoming RBNZ Governor Adrian Orr today signed a Policy Targets Agreement that included a new reference to employment. Admittedly, this probably won’t significantly alter the outlook for monetary... 25th March 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - RBNZ no closer to raising rates Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Grant Spencer finished his six-month term without any fireworks by leaving interest rates at 1.75% for the 16 th month and reiterating that rates are unlikely to... 21st March 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Fed leapfrogs the RBA and RBNZ We believe the probable rise in US rates on Wednesday will mark the start of the first prolonged period since the late 1990s where interest rates in America are higher than in Australia and New... 21st March 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Further falls in dwellings investment lie ahead While the recent rises in building approvals are encouraging, we doubt they are a sign that the drag on GDP growth from dwellings investment is already over. Indeed, we expect that dwellings... 20th March 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update RBA repeats that progress on inflation will be gradual The Reserve Bank of Australia left interest rates on hold at 1.5% for the 17 th consecutive meeting and it noted once again that progress in returning inflation to target is likely to be “gradual”... 6th March 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand Activity Proxy (Dec.) Although our New Zealand Activity Proxy declined in December, the decent rise over the fourth quarter as a whole suggests that GDP growth accelerated at the end of last year. 26th February 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update RBA hints that rates won’t rise this year The Reserve Bank of Australia used today’s Statement of Monetary Policy to hint for the third time this week that interest rates are unlikely to rise this year. We’ve been saying exactly that since... 9th February 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - RBNZ prepares for new employment focus It was no surprise that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand left interest rate at 1.75% today and again projected that rates won’t rise until the second half of next year at the earliest. More interesting... 7th February 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update RBA hints it’s in no rush to raise rates The jitters in the financial markets are due to concerns that global interest rates will rise rapidly, but the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) did its part to calm fears by leaving interest rates at... 6th February 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand Activity Proxy (Nov.) The further rise in our New Zealand Activity Proxy in November suggests that the economy regained some momentum at the end of last year. That said, the plunge in business confidence in November... 23rd January 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Will jobs growth continue to soar in 2018? While the upbeat nature of business employment surveys suggests jobs growth should be fairly decent this year, the exceptionally strong pace of job creation in 2017 seems unlikely to be repeated. 14th January 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - Our key calls for 2018 and some possible shocks 2018 is widely expected to be the year that the Reserve Banks of Australia and New Zealand start to raise interest rates from their record lows. We disagree. In this Update, we outline five of our non... 9th January 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Fiscal update offers no Christmas gift for the economy The only gift the Treasurer handed out in today’s Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) was the one he gave himself, namely a stronger fiscal pot that will take a bit away from GDP growth next... 18th December 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand Activity Proxy (Oct.) After probably slowing in the third quarter, the bounce back in our New Zealand Activity Proxy in October suggests that GDP growth started the fourth quarter on a stronger footing. 13th December 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update RBA may not get its Christmas wish The Reserve Bank of Australia didn’t say as much in the statement released after it left interest rates at 1.5% for the 16th month today, but its Christmas wish must surely be for much more economic... 5th December 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - Effect of easing in LVR restrictions only modest Today’s announcement by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) that it intends to ease existing loan-to-value (LVR) restrictions from the start of next year should provide a modest boost to housing... 29th November 2017 · 1 min read
