Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Share buybacks are not to blame for weak investment The recent surge in stock buybacks has largely been driven by mining and financial firms and therefore can’t explain the weakness in non-mining investment. Non-mining profit growth should rebound a... 18th November 2019 · 4 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Labour market will remain RBA’s headache We wouldn’t read too much into October’s largest fall in employment in three years as the monthly data are volatile. But we still expect the unemployment rate to rise in the coming months as the... 15th November 2019 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Labour Market (Oct.) The sharp fall in employment will be causing concern for the RBA and we think the unemployment rate has further to rise in the coming months. 14th November 2019 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - RBNZ to cut rates to 0.5% in 2020 The Reserve Bank of New Zealand sounded cautious when it left rates on hold today and we believe that a deterioration in the economy will force the Bank to 0.5% by early next year. 13th November 2019 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly GDP growth isn’t picking up The decline in capital goods imports over the past year suggests that business investment is set to fall further in the second half of the year . What's more, the fall in real retail sales in Q3 point... 8th November 2019 · 6 mins read
RBNZ Watch New Zealand - RBNZ will cut further, but not until next year The economic data have been better than the Bank anticipated in their last set of forecasts in August so we suspect the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) will leave rates on hold at its meeting on... 6th November 2019 · 7 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response New Zealand - Labour Market (Q3) The rise in the unemployment rate to 4.2% in Q3 only reverses the decline in Q2 so we doubt the RBNZ will be too worried at this stage. 5th November 2019 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Focus What will New Zealand’s policymakers do in a crisis? Our central scenario is that cutting interest rates to 0.5% will be enough to weather the economic slowdown in 2020. And if required, fiscal policy and macroprudential tools could be used to help... 5th November 2019 · 18 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response CoreLogic House Prices (Oct.) Our sales to new listings ratio suggests that house prices will continue to surge in the coming months before moderating in the new year. We expect prices to rise by 5% in 2020 and 2021. 1st November 2019 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Chart Pack IMF too optimistic on Australia and New Zealand In its latest World Economic Outlook, the IMF predicted Australia’s economy to expand by 1.7% in 2019 and by 2.3% in 2020. While the 2019 forecast is consistent with our own expectations, their... 31st October 2019 · 10 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Consumer Prices (Q3) While inflation edged up in Q3 we think the weakness in economic activity will cause it to fall again before long, prompting further easing by the RBA. 30th October 2019 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Lack of fiscal stimulus will force the RBA’s hand The new Secretary to the Treasury endorsed the government’s hands-off approach to fiscal policy this week. We suspect the Australian government could increase spending significantly to support the... 25th October 2019 · 5 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response New Zealand - Consumer Prices (Q3) The decline in headline inflation from 1.7% in Q2 to 1.5% in Q3 is unlikely to concern the RBNZ as it was still above their forecast in August. But we think subdued activity will mean that underlying... 16th October 2019 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economic Outlook RBA to cut to 0.25% and launch QE The end of the housing downturn has reduced the risk of a recession and we expect GDP growth in Australia to edge up from 1.7% this year to 2.0% in 2020. However, that’s still well below potential and... 15th October 2019 · 23 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Not confident either economy will improve Consumer and business confidence in Australia have both recently fallen to their weakest levels in years. And we now think GDP growth in New Zealand will slow to 1.5% in 2020. That’s why we think both... 11th October 2019 · 5 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - RBNZ to cut rates more sharply than most expect We now expect growth in New Zealand to ease from 2.2% in 2019 to 1.5% in 2020. Along with a rising unemployment rate, weak economic activity will prompt the RBNZ to cut rates twice next year. 9th October 2019 · 3 mins read
