Australia & New Zealand Economics Update RBNZ confirms hiking cycle to be followed by cuts The RBNZ sounded hawkish when it hiked rates by 50bp today, and we now think rates will rise to 3.5% by the end of this year. But the Bank endorsed our long-held non-consensus view that rate cuts will... 25th May 2022 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - Budget boost will exacerbate inflationary pressures While the government’s Budget was focused on equipping households to withstand surging living costs, by adding to demand we think it will cause inflation to be higher over the next year. That’s all... 20th May 2022 · 3 mins read
RBNZ Watch RBNZ to keep tightening aggressively The New Zealand economy was running hot even when the Omicron variant was disrupting activity. Now that the peak of the Omicron wave has passed, mobility is rebounding and inflation expectations are... 19th May 2022 · 7 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Wage Price Index (Q1) The unchanged pace of quarterly wage growth in Q1 should ensure the RBA won’t accelerate its hiking cycle just yet. But with the labour market still tightening and inflation still rising, we think... 18th May 2022 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Chart Pack Consumption to surge even as real incomes fall We now expect Australia’s inflation to rise by more than 6% this year. Even allowing for an acceleration in earnings growth and a further solid rise in employment as immigration resumes, that will... 17th May 2022 · 11 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - Wage growth will rise further before it falls The 6% rise in the minimum wage will help lift wage growth further this year. But a loosening labour market and smaller minimum wage hikes in the years ahead will facilitate a slow down in wage growth... 11th May 2022 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Rates will rise faster than most expect The RBA started its hiking cycle at its meeting this week. While the Governor indicated that the Bank was likely to stick to 25bp hikes in the near term, we think the Bank will hike by a larger 40bp... 6th May 2022 · 4 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia International Trade (Mar. 2022) The rise in the trade balance in March won’t be enough to prevent trade from being a significant drag on growth in Q1. In the months ahead higher export prices due to the war in Ukraine should lift... 5th May 2022 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response New Zealand Labour Market (Q1 2022) The continued tightness in the New Zealand labour market despite the omicron outbreak provides further evidence that the economy is still running hot. That’s why we expect the RBNZ to hike rates by 50... 4th May 2022 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly RBA will hike by 15bp next week Inflation is now surging in Australia and that surge is spreading well beyond the impact of soaring commodity prices. We therefore think the RBA needs to begin tightening policy. The RBA might want to... 29th April 2022 · 7 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly RBA set to hike aggressively this year The minutes of the RBA’s April meeting show that it is coming around to our view that rates will need to be hiked before long. We expect next week’s Q1 CPI data to show inflation surpassing 4%, which... 22nd April 2022 · 4 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Chart Pack Central Bankers’ confidence dilemma Inflation is surging in both Australia and New Zealand. That is putting pressure on central banks to hike interest rates to slow the economy and curb inflation. But both the RBNZ and the RBA... 21st April 2022 · 11 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response New Zealand Consumer Prices (Q1 2022) The 1.8% q/q rise in consumer prices in Q1 was broadly in line with the RBNZ’s expectations, which reduces the likelihood of another 50 basis point hike in the OCR in May. But we still think high... 21st April 2022 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly RBA set to follow RBNZ as inflation about to surge The Reserve Bank of New Zealand delivered the 50bp rate hike we were anticipating this week and we think that the Reserve Bank of Australia will embark on its own tightening cycle in June. With the... 14th April 2022 · 5 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Labour Market (Mar. 2022) The unemployment rate remaining at its joint lowest rate since the 1970s should be enough to keep the RBA on track to begin hiking rates in June. 14th April 2022 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Hawkish RBNZ will hike rates to 3.0% The RBNZ’s decision to accelerate its hiking cycle shows it is willing to move decisively to get a hand on surging inflation. That’s in line with our forecast that it will hike the OCR to 3.0% by the... 13th April 2022 · 3 mins read
