RBA Watch RBA to extend QE in July The Reserve Bank of Australia will still sound dovish at the upcoming meeting on 1 st June, paving the way for an extension of its bond purchase programme at the July meeting. But amidst early signs... 25th May 2021 · 7 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Wage growth set to accelerate in Australia April’s labour market figures confirmed that the withdrawal of the JobKeeper wage subsidy wasn’t as big a shock as many had feared. The continued tightening of the labour market should eventually... 21st May 2021 · 6 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Australia Labour Market (Apr.) While the economy shed some jobs after the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme came to an end, the surge in vacancies suggests employment will keep rising over the coming months. 20th May 2021 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Wage Price Index (Q1) The strength in wage growth in Q1 was partly due to one-off factors which will fade in the year ahead, but we still think the tightening in the labour market will see wage growth rise in earnest... 19th May 2021 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Mining investment boom 2.0 unlikely The surge in the price of iron ore will lift Australia’s export revenues and boost mining profits, but we suspect that the impact on domestic demand will be modest. And with the price of liquefied... 14th May 2021 · 7 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Budget signals permanently larger public spending Treasurer Josh Frydenberg revealed in today’s Budget that the government will spend nearly all of the windfall accruing from the stronger economic recovery. That will result in a permanently larger... 11th May 2021 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia - Retail Sales (Mar./Q1 2021) The drop in real retail sales in Q1 suggests that the recovery in consumption slowed last quarter. And with the vaccination drive still slow, we think that consumption will only return to pre-virus... 10th May 2021 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly QE to continue beyond September The Reserve Bank of Australia has become more upbeat about the outlook for GDP growth and the labour market but still expects inflation to fall short of its target. With the Bank showing little... 7th May 2021 · 5 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Focus Australia - Pandemic unlikely to result in long-term scarring The closure of the border will reduce Australia’s potential output by around 2.5%. But this will be partly offset by higher productivity growth due to increased usage of technology and more employees... 6th May 2021 · 17 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Australia - Budget to extend tax relief While the government is likely to announce further tax relief at next week’s Budget, we suspect it will use nearly half of the recent improvement in the budget balance to reduce borrowing. 5th May 2021 · 4 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update RBA set to extend QE in July The Reserve Bank of Australia upgraded its forecasts for GDP growth and inflation but reiterated that it is prepared to extend its asset purchases. We stick to our forecast of another $100bn extension... 4th May 2021 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Underlying inflation to remain subdued for now Inflation was subdued in Q1 and while we expect the plunge in prices in Q2 2020 to cause a surge in inflation this quarter, headline inflation should be just 2% by year-end. More importantly, we... 30th April 2021 · 7 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Chart Pack Economic recovery facilitates house price surge House prices are now surging in both countries. House price cycles in the Australian housing market tend to lag those in New Zealand a little, which is consistent with the forward indicators pointing... 29th April 2021 · 11 mins read
RBA Watch RBA still likely to extend bond purchases further The Reserve Bank of Australia will revise down its near-term forecasts for the unemployment rate at its meeting on 4th May, but it will probably still signal that inflation will fall short of its 2-3%... 28th April 2021 · 8 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Consumer Prices (Q1 2021) The weakness in underlying inflation in Q1 is consistent with our view that the Reserve Bank of Australia will announce a third $100bn round of asset purchases before long. And it suggests that the... 28th April 2021 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Domestic travel fuelling recovery The available data suggest that the recovery in consumption stalled at the start of the year and the slow rollout of vaccines could be an additional headwind. However, with the virus all but... 23rd April 2021 · 5 mins read
