Australia & New Zealand Economics Update The money supply is not what it used to be Growth in the money supply has picked-up in Australia but we don’t think the money supply has much of a relationship with economic activity. Even so, banks have started to ease lending standards which... 26th August 2019 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly The sky isn’t falling There have been concerns that the recent inversion of the US yield curve foreshadows a global downturn but we think that the recent easing in lending standards means the probability of a recession in... 23rd August 2019 · 5 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Don’t worry, there’s still more “in the tin” The 50 basis point cut by the RBNZ took markets by surprise this week and we now expect the Bank to cut rates to 0.75% by early next year. If the economic outlook deteriorates by considerably more... 8th August 2019 · 6 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - 50 basis point cut not the end of easing by the RBNZ The Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut rates dramatically to 1.0% at today’s monetary policy meeting. But given our more pessimistic forecasts of the New Zealand economy, we don’t think that the Bank is... 7th August 2019 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response International Trade (Jun.) We estimate that net trade boosted GDP growth in Q2, providing a glimmer of hope amidst the bleak domestic outlook. 6th August 2019 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response New Zealand - Labour Market (Q2) The sharp fall in the unemployment rate is unlikely to prevent the RBNZ from cutting rates tomorrow given that labour market data are volatile and often prone to revision. What’s more, we expect the... 6th August 2019 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Bond yields crashing to new lows Economic data this week confirmed that the Australian economy continues to underperform. Meanwhile, bond yields have been in freefall. In part, that reflects Governor Lowe’s comments last week that... 2nd August 2019 · 8 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Retail Sales (Jun./ Q2) The weakness in real retail sales in Q2 suggests consumption growth remained sluggish in the second quarter. That’s one reason why we expect GDP growth to slow from 2.8% in 2018 to just 1.5% this year... 2nd August 2019 · 2 mins read
RBNZ Watch Interest rates will be cut twice more this year The Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee sounded almost ready to cut rates at its last meeting in June. And developments since then will have done little to mollify the Bank’s concerns. So we... 1st August 2019 · 7 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response CoreLogic House Prices (Jul.) House prices appear to be bottoming with an average increase in prices across the eight capital cities in July. We expect prices will remain around this level for the rest of 2019 before rising by 3%... 1st August 2019 · 2 mins read
RBA Watch RBA to take a breather before cutting rates further We expect the Reserve Bank of Australia to take a breather and leave rates on hold at 1.0% at its upcoming meeting on Tuesday the 6th of August following the back to back rate cuts in June and July... 31st July 2019 · 7 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Consumer Prices (Q2) Underlying inflation remained subdued in the second quarter and we think increasing spare capacity in the Australian economy means it will fall further below the RBA’s 2-3% target over the next year. 31st July 2019 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Chart Pack Falling profitability to weigh on investment The slowdown in domestic economic activity along with global trade tensions is becoming more of a concern for businesses in both countries. That means that sentiment has not been bolstered by the... 30th July 2019 · 10 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Treasurer unlikely to shift the goal posts The Treasurer is currently reviewing the RBA’s inflation target before he signs the Statement on the Conduct of Monetary Policy. We doubt there will be any major changes and Governor Lowe gave a... 26th July 2019 · 6 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - Capital requirement concerns are overblown Commercial banks in New Zealand have kicked up a fuss over a proposal by the Reserve Bank to increase the level of capital the banks are required to hold. By contrast, we believe the new rules won’t... 25th July 2019 · 4 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Outlook for gas sector challenging The US may overtake Australia and Qatar to become the world’s largest exporter of LNG by 2024 as production costs in the US are lower than in Australia. For now, that’s not too big a concern as the... 19th July 2019 · 4 mins read
