Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Corporate tax cuts wouldn’t boost the economy much The Australian government’s plan to cut the corporate tax rate from 30% to 25% by 2026/27 wouldn’t be a boon for the economy for two reasons. First, the tax rate would need to be cut much further to... 29th March 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Chart Pack Bounce back in activity unlikely Both the Australian and New Zealand economies failed to regain any momentum at the end of 2017 with GDP rising by a slower than expected 0.6% q/q in New Zealand and just 0.4% q/q in Australia... 28th March 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand Activity Proxy (Jan.) The fairly modest rise in our New Zealand Activity Proxy in January suggests that the economy failed to gain much momentum at the start of the year. Looking ahead, we continue to expect GDP growth to... 26th March 2018 · 1 min read
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 Weekly Record run of job growth won’t be sustained Following a surprisingly strong 2017, the Australian labour market has started 2018 on a firm footing and business surveys suggest that employment growth will continue to climb in the coming months... 23rd 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
RBNZ Watch New Zealand - Risk of a step change in policy when Orr takes the helm The Reserve Bank of New Zealand will almost certainly keep the official cash rate on hold at 1.75% at Grant Spencer’s final meeting as Governor on Thursday 22nd March and it’s likely to reiterate that... 15th March 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response New Zealand GDP (Q4) The economy failed to regain any momentum at the end 2017 with the production measure of GDP rising by a fairly subdued 0.6% q/q in the fourth quarter, as it did in the third. Looking ahead, we expect... 14th March 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Chart Pack A marked divergence in the fortunes of businesses While rising profits and confidence are boosting sentiment amongst Australian businesses, the uncertainty surrounding the policies of the new government has continued to weigh on business confidence... 28th February 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 Weekly Is the interest-only loan market nearing a precipice? There has been a renewed focus in recent weeks on interest-only loans in Australia and the potential risk that these loans present to financial stability, particularly given a large portion of... 23rd February 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly An oasis of record low interest rates If global equity markets are fearing higher interest rates, as this week’s fall suggest, then Australia and New Zealand offer something of an oasis as both the RBA and RBNZ dropped some heavy hints... 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 Data Response New Zealand Labour Market (Q4) The decent rise in employment in the fourth quarter and the fall in the unemployment rate to a decade low may go some way to calming the current fears in the financial markets. And the absence of... 6th February 2018 · 1 min read
RBNZ Watch New Zealand - Spencer to play it safe at his penultimate meeting The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) will almost certainly leave the official cash rate on hold at 1.75% at its policy meeting on Thursday 8th February and, in the accompanying Monetary Policy... 1st February 2018 · 1 min read
