Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Tighter mortgage lending rules raise chances of more rate cuts Today’s announcement that the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has introduced tighter mortgage lending rules will go some way to addressing the RBA’s concerns about the overheating housing... 31st March 2017 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - RBNZ keen for the dollar to weaken further The Reserve Bank of New Zealand used today’s decision to leave interest rates at 1.75% to emphasise once again that rates won’t be raised either this year or next. The financial markets are slowly... 22nd March 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update RBA remains more optimistic than most The statement released after the Reserve Bank of Australia today left interest rates at 1.5% remained fairly balanced, but recent speeches have made it clear that the RBA doesn’t intend to cut... 7th March 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Is the RBA’s optimism signal or spin? There is definitely a role for the Reserve Bank of Australia to manage expectations by signalling where it thinks the economy is heading. But by sounding more optimistic than its own forecasts, there... 16th February 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update RBA plots near-perfect projections The new forecasts published in February’s Statement of Monetary Policy show that the RBA is largely expecting Australia’s slow growth and low underlying inflation problems to be solved over the next... 10th February 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - RBNZ not planning to raise rates until late 2019 While leaving interest rates on hold at 1.75% today, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand suggested that the next move in interest rates is more likely to be up than down. But since we largely agree with... 8th February 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Gambling on growth We believe that the Reserve Bank of Australia is being too complacent in expecting GDP growth to be close to 3% over the next couple of years and underlying inflation to rise to 2.0%. So while the RBA... 7th February 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Four reasons why a recession remains unlikely The 0.5% q/q fall in GDP in the third quarter has raised the possibility that the first recession, defined as two consecutive quarters of falling output, in 25 years has begun. But while the GDP data... 7th December 2016 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update RBA looks through possible fall in Q3 GDP After leaving interest rates on hold at 1.5% today, the Reserve Bank of Australia remained fairly optimistic on the outlook for activity even though the economy may have contracted in the third... 6th December 2016 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - RBNZ thinks it has done enough The Reserve Bank of New Zealand showed that business carries on as usual with Trump as US President as today it met its previous pledge to cut interest rates from 2.00% to 1.75%. What’s more... 10th November 2016 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Market fallout from President Trump may not last long The now-probable election of Donald Trump as US President will continue to send shockwaves through the financial markets for a while yet. But we suspect it won’t be long before the bulk of these moves... 9th November 2016 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Surge in part-time employment in Australia may soon slow While the structural shift towards part-time employment has further to run, an easing in economic growth in industries with a higher than average share of part-time employees suggests that the speed... 7th November 2016 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update The RBA’s tone is becoming more upbeat While the forecasts published in the RBA’s latest Statement on Monetary Policy have hardly changed since the August edition, the tone is much more balanced and could probably even be described as... 4th November 2016 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Chances of further cuts fading, but not disappearing The decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia to leave interest rates at 1.5% today may fuel some speculation that the next move in rates will be up, although not for a long time. That possibility... 1st November 2016 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update The RBA, inflation and November The inflation figures for the third quarter would need to be much weaker than the Reserve Bank of Australia expects in order to prompt a cut in interest rates to 1.25% at November’s policy meeting... 11th October 2016 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Governor, same story By leaving interest rates at 1.5% and the policy statement mostly unchanged at his first meeting as Governor, Philip Lowe showed he is cut from much the same cloth as his predecessor. But while Lowe... 4th October 2016 · 1 min read
