Australia & New Zealand Chart Pack The envy of the advanced world The growth rates enjoyed by Australia and New Zealand in the second quarter continue to be the envy of most advanced nations. The 3.3% and 3.6% respective rises in GDP over the last year were much... 29th September 2016 · 1 min read
RBA Watch Rates on hold, but easing cycle isn’t over The Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) next policy meeting on Tuesday 4 th October will be the first led by the new Governor, Philip Lowe, but that’s the only thing we expect to change. Interest rates... 28th September 2016 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Focus The structural decline in investment The structural decline of the manufacturing sector means that the long-awaited transition from mining investment towards non-mining business investment may never happen to the extent that most people... 26th September 2016 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly The risks around our dollar forecasts Recent events have made our forecast that both the Australian and New Zealand dollars will weaken to around US$0.65 next year look aggressive. But while the risks to those forecasts lie on the upside... 23rd September 2016 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - RBNZ desperate to get the dollar down Although the Reserve Bank of New Zealand left interest rates on hold at 2.0% today, it hinted that in order to weaken the dollar and boost inflation, it will soon cut rates to a new record low of 1.75... 22nd September 2016 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response ABS House Prices (Q2) The ABS measure of house prices supports other evidence showing that the housing market has found a new lease of life. That said, the market is not as strong as widely believed and it’s more likely to... 20th September 2016 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update RBA tweaks its policy agreement Philip Lowe’s first job as RBA Governor has been to emphasise the medium-term nature of the 2-3% inflation target and highlight how the RBA juggles this with its often conflicting objective of... 19th September 2016 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Can the kiwi dollar rise to parity against the Aussie? The impressive performance of New Zealand’s economy in the second quarter has contributed to the strengthening in the New Zealand dollar towards parity with the Australian dollar. Our economic... 16th September 2016 · 1 min read
RBNZ Watch New Zealand - Improving outlook unlikely to prevent further rate cuts While the chance of a September interest rate cut was never particularly high, a stronger than expected rise in GDP in the second quarter all but confirmed that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand will... 15th September 2016 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Labour Market (Aug.) After adjusting the data to strip out the temporary boost from the Census, we estimate that employment fell by around 14,000 in August. While we aren’t too concerned about the outlook for employment... 15th September 2016 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response New Zealand GDP (Q2) By contributing to a surge in housing-related activity, record low interest rates provided the foundations for the impressive pick-up in GDP growth in the second quarter. This probably won’t prevent... 15th September 2016 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Consumer Confidence (Sep.) September’s Westpac measure of consumer confidence shows that the rise in August was sustained. This should help to calm concerns about the health of the household sector following the slowdown in... 14th September 2016 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Focus Inflation targeting – time for a change? The Reserve Banks of Australia and New Zealand are likely to ignore suggestions that they should lower their inflation targets since that would drive inflation even lower. Targeting nominal GDP growth... 14th September 2016 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly The secret fiscal stimulus An unusual surge in public demand drove the decent rise in GDP in Australia in the second quarter. However, with this support from the public sector unlikely to be sustained and few signs that other... 9th September 2016 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia International Trade (Jul.) Even though the international trade deficit narrowed in July, net exports are still on course to remain a drag on real GDP growth in the third quarter. The external sector could really do with the... 8th September 2016 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia GDP (Q2) The return of the Australian economy in the second quarter to the growth rates seen before the end of the mining boom relieves some of the pressure on the RBA to cut interest rates again, at least in... 7th September 2016 · 1 min read
