Filtered by Subscriptions: Australia & New Zealand Economics Use setting Australia & New Zealand Economics
A solution in search of a problem The Australian government’s migration policy is in the spotlight once again as the Senate deliberates over legislation aimed at capping international student commencements in the country. The proposal put forward by …
30th August 2024
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Consumption rebound likely to be gradual The softness in retail sales last month suggests that household consumption growth will remain muted this quarter. Insofar as spending …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Disinflation has further to run Inflationary pressures are easing gradually, but the details of today’s CPI release won’t bring the RBA any closer to dropping its hawkish bias. …
28th August 2024
Restrictive policy will do its job Earlier this week the Reserve Bank of Australia published the minutes of its August meeting, which showed that the Board remains concerned about upside inflation risks. In particular, the Bank noted that there was likely …
23rd August 2024
We believe that employment growth isn’t as strong as the Australian Bureau of Statistics is reporting because net migration seems to have weakened more sharply than the ABS is assuming. While it will take many months for the labour force survey to reveal …
21st August 2024
RBA won’t be rushed into rate cuts The minutes of the RBA’s August meeting confirmed what we already knew from Governor Bullock's post-meeting press conference: the Board discussed the case for a 25bp hike before ultimately deciding to leave rates …
20th August 2024
Downside risks abound in New Zealand Our non-consensus call that the RBNZ would start normalising policy this week came to fruition, with the Bank handing down its first rate cut in over four years. But while the Committee reached a full consensus that it …
16th August 2024
Our Australia & New Zealand Chart Pack has been updated with the latest data and our analysis of recent developments. The Antipodean central banks will tread different paths when it comes to policy setting in the near term. With the New Zealand economy …
15th August 2024
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Labour force continues to absorb surge in workers The slight uptick in the unemployment rate last month belies a renewed acceleration in employment growth. Accordingly, the data …
The RBNZ began its easing cycle with a 25bp rate cut at its meeting today. Although the Bank appeared to strike a cautious tone about further policy easing, we think it will cut rates more aggressively than many are anticipating. We were among the 12 …
14th August 2024
RBNZ will loosen policy aggressively The RBNZ began its easing cycle with a 25bp rate cut at its meeting today. Although the Bank seemed to strike a cautious tone about further policy easing, we think it will cut rates more aggressively than many are …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Wage growth will cool in earnest The RBA probably won’t read too much into the fact that annual wage growth stalled last quarter. A gradual loosening of the labour market should …
13th August 2024
No rush to loosen policy Although the Reserve Bank of Australia left rates on hold at its meeting this Tuesday, its messaging was unequivocally hawkish. In her post-meeting press conference Governor Michele Bullock stated that the Board had seriously …
8th August 2024
We are in the minority of forecasters who expect the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to hand down a 25bp rate cut at its meeting next week. Moreover, with excess capacity in the economy rising rapidly, we think the Bank will embark on a more aggressive easing …
7th August 2024
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. RBNZ will welcome continued loosening of the labour market Although employment growth in Q2 was stronger than most had anticipated, it didn’t keep the unemployment rate from …
6th August 2024
Although the RBA left rates on hold today, it poured cold water on market expectations that it will loosen policy later this year. With the economy still running above its speed limit, we continue to believe that rate cuts won’t be on the agenda until Q2 …
With RBA retaining its tightening bias, rate cuts will have to wait Although the RBA continued to strike a cautious tone when it left rates on hold today, we still believe that the Bank’s next move will be down. That said, contrary to market pricing, we …
RBA will remain data dependent The main event this week was the publication of Australian CPI data , which showed that underlying inflation in Q2 was softer than most had anticipated. To be clear, trimmed mean inflation was only 0.1%-pt lower than the …
2nd August 2024
Housing rally will do little to support activity Australian house prices gained a bit of momentum in July. However, leading indicators continue to suggest that the housing market will cool markedly in the months ahead. Even if house price growth proves …
1st August 2024
The Reserve Bank of Australia is likely to leave policy settings unchanged when it meets next week. Although there has been little progress on disinflation in recent months, the Board is likely to pin that on the long and variable lags of monetary policy. …
31st July 2024
With underlying inflation edging lower, RBA will refrain from tightening Although underlying inflation is running too high for the RBA’s liking, it is at least heading in the right direction. Therefore, although the Board will probably reiterate the need …
In detailed analysis last year, we concluded that equilibrium nominal interest rates would settle at between 3% and 4% in advanced economies in the next ten years. We maintain that opinion and in fact some of the forces boosting equilibrium rates seem to …
30th July 2024
Case for RBNZ to ease strengthens According to a new survey released by Retail NZ this week, things are going from bad to worse for the domestic retail industry. Indeed, more than two-thirds of retailers reported that they had failed to meet their sales …
26th July 2024
Much of the recent resilience in Australia’s house price growth can be attributed to a handful of capital cities where the property markets have gone from strength to strength. We believe that there are a number of factors that help explain the divergence …
23rd July 2024
A policy pivot is imminent If the RBNZ had any doubts that it had broken the back of inflation, they will have been quashed by the slew of weaker-than-expected data releases this week. Accordingly, we’re bringing forward our forecast for the Bank’s first …
19th July 2024
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. A loosening labour market should forestall further rate hikes Although job growth remained healthy last month, it didn’t prevent the unemployment rate from rising anew. And we …
18th July 2024
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. With inflation falling rapidly, the RBNZ’s August meeting is now “live” Today’s CPI release confirms that inflation is all but certain to return to the RBNZ’s 1-3% target by Q3. …
16th July 2024
The latest data indicate that capacity pressures have continued to ease, a trend that should continue over the coming quarters. However, it will be a while before policymakers can be confident that they have broken the back of inflation. Accordingly, we …
15th July 2024
RBA will be content to play the waiting game Financial markets have increasingly been paring back their interest rate expectations for the RBA. They are now pricing in a roughly 20% chance that the Bank will hike rates by 25bp this year, down sharply from …
12th July 2024
RBNZ strikes some dovish notes Although it left the Official Cash Rate unchanged at 5.50%, the RBNZ sounded rather dovish in its commentary. The Committee’s messaging gives us greater confidence that the Bank will commence its easing cycle in November. …
10th July 2024
The Monthly Household Spending Indicator is often revised several months later so the plunge in spending in May won’t deter the Reserve Bank of Australia from hiking rates next month if inflation remains hot. According to the Monthly Household Spending …
8th July 2024
A strong case for an August hold The minutes of the RBA’s June meeting revealed that the Board hasn’t yet shut the door on another rate hike. In our view, the Bank’s tightening bias is not unwarranted. After all, data published this week showed that …
5th July 2024
We expect the RBNZ to leave rates on hold for a seventh consecutive time at its meeting next Wednesday. To be sure, the Bank will probably strike a hawkish tone out of an abundance of caution. However, with the economy in tatters and inflation on its way …
3rd July 2024
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Uptick in retail sales not a gamechanger for the RBA The upside surprise in the May retail sales numbers primarily reflected consumers taking advantage of end-of-financial year …
Concerns about the economy will keep RBA from hiking The minutes of the RBA’s June meeting revealed that the Bank’s tightening bias remains intact. The Board noted that there were a number of factors that supported the case for a rate hike last month. …
2nd July 2024
Housing market will cool in earnest Australian house price gains softened just a smidge in June as housing demand held up reasonably well. However, as strained affordability takes its toll, we still think that house price growth will ease markedly in the …
1st July 2024
A narrower path The release of hotter-than-expected CPI data this Wednesday sent shockwaves through financial markets. Indeed, investors are now pricing in a nearly 40% chance of 25bp rate hike by year-end, whereas at the start of the week they thought …
28th June 2024
While the labour market held up initially as job vacancies started to fall, fewer job openings are now pushing up the unemployment rate in earnest and we expect it to rise from 4% now to 5% by 2026. According to data released by the Australian Bureau of …
27th June 2024
Overview – Activity has slowed to a standstill in both countries. Although output growth should gather momentum going forward, it will remain below its pre-pandemic average. However, with underlying inflation still running well above target, central banks …
26th June 2024
RBA will take upside surprise in inflation in its stride The jump in inflation in May means that the Reserve Bank of Australia will be debating interest rate hikes for a while yet, but with the economy doing worse than it has been anticipating, we still …
Supply constraints are easing Some commentators have been arguing that it’s not weak demand but a shortage of supply that’s keeping GDP growth at 1% y/y. After all, the fact that job vacancies are still very high and employment growth remains very strong …
21st June 2024
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Economy struggles to gain momentum The modest rebound in GDP last quarter doesn’t change the bigger picture that the New Zealand economy is worse for wear. In fact, timely survey …
19th June 2024
The RBA discussed another rate hike at today’s meeting and an upside surprise to Q2 inflation could force its hand at its August meeting. However, with capacity constraints easing and government rebates pushing inflation into the Bank’s target band by Q3, …
18th June 2024
RBA’s next move will be a cut but only next year The RBA probably debated another rate hike at today’s meeting and we only expect the Bank to start easing policy next year. The Bank’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged today was correctly …
Underlying price pressures will abate only slowly When Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick unveiled the state government’s 2024/25 Budget, he made no pretence about his desire to prime the pump in the run the up to local elections in October. The Budget …
14th June 2024
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Although the unemployment rate fell anew in May, leading indicators continued to point to a marked rise in the months ahead. All told, the data suggest that the RBA will remain …
13th June 2024
RBA to stay put at its June meeting Inflation remains high, but spare capacity is starting to open up in the economy Forthcoming easing cycle will be modest in scope, with rates returning to neutral We expect the Reserve Bank of Australia to leave rates …
11th June 2024
GDP growth set to undershoot RBA’s forecasts Australia last quarter recorded the weakest annual GDP growth since the early-1990s recession, leaving aside the pandemic. If the measly 0.1% q/q rise in output last quarter was repeated this quarter, annual …
7th June 2024
GDP growth will accelerate over the second half of the year While GDP growth slowed to a crawl in Q1, a rebound in real household incomes should contribute to a pick-up in activity over the second half of the year. The 0.1% q/q rise in Q1 GDP was a …
5th June 2024
This year’s minimum wage increase will be a bit smaller than we had anticipated. And with the looser labour market putting downward pressure on wage growth among workers not covered by the minimum wage and awards, we expect wage growth to slow faster than …
3rd June 2024
