Australia & New Zealand Economics Update RBA will deliver one final rate hike in May The Reserve Bank of Australia kept open the possibility of further tightening when it decided to leave its cash rate unchanged at 3.60% today. As such, we do still expect the RBA to deliver one final... 4th April 2023 · 5 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Surging credit card spending not a cause for concern The surge in credit card spending over the past year hasn’t been any larger than the increase in overall consumer spending. And with personal credit accounting for a small share of overall credit, a... 27th March 2023 · 4 mins read
Global Economics Update What next after Credit Suisse? While the Credit Suisse rescue might draw a line under that particular institution’s problems, it is clear that confidence in the financial sector overall is still extremely fragile. So regardless of... 20th March 2023 · 5 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Financial system should withstand SVB shock Australian banks are unlikely to experience the same valuation losses that resulted in the demise of Silicon Valley Bank. The biggest risk is that a freezing up of overseas bond markets shuts down... 14th March 2023 · 4 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update RBA not done tightening yet The Reserve Bank of Australia signalled that further tightening will be needed when it hiked the cash rate to 3.60% today and we’re sticking to our forecast that the Bank will lift the cash rate to 4... 7th March 2023 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Services inflation will remain stubbornly high With labour productivity falling the most on record over the past year, unit labour cost growth has surged even as hourly earnings growth has remained sluggish. While we expect productivity growth to... 6th March 2023 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Dwellings investment won’t fall as sharply Although the fall in house prices slowed significantly in February, we are not convinced that Australia’s housing market is out of the woods yet. Even so, there are growing indications that dwellings... 2nd March 2023 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Housing downturn not over just yet House prices bounced back in February, led by Sydney. While leading indicators point to an improvement in housing market activity, the RBA’s determination to raise interest rates further means that... 24th February 2023 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update RBNZ will stop hiking at 5.25% Even though the Reserve Bank of New Zealand slowed the pace of tightening at today’s meeting, it still signalled a peak in the overnight cash rate of 5.50% by the middle of this year. Our more... 22nd February 2023 · 4 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Housing downturn will be deflationary Rent inflation is set to approach 10% as the surge in net migration coupled with lower home completions has pushed rental vacancy rates to record low. But that rise will be overwhelmed by the slowdown... 20th February 2023 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update RBA signals more tightening to come The RBA raised interest rates by another 25bp and signalled that further tightening will be needed. We’re sticking to our forecast that the Bank will lift the cash rate to an above-consensus 3.85% by... 7th February 2023 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Housing supply shortages starting to ease The shortage of new housing caused by the government’s HomeBuilder grant is showing signs of easing. That means that the housing downturn should start to weigh on homebuilding in earnest and that new... 18th January 2023 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Fixed-rate expiry large shock to household finances The full impact of the RBA’s aggressive tightening cycle on household finances hasn’t been felt yet because one-third of all mortgages have fixed-rates. Around 60% of those will expire next year and... 13th December 2022 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update RBA not backing away from rate hikes just yet The RBA today hiked the cash rate by 25bp as widely anticipated and while the statement was marginally less hawkish, we’re sticking to our view that the Bank will lift the cash rate to 3.85% by April. 6th December 2022 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Long-term impact of energy price caps may be positive The proposed caps on domestic prices of thermal coal and natural gas are unlikely to be a major drag on mining investment because the bulk of coal and gas production is exported. And by helping to... 5th December 2022 · 4 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Multi-employer pay deals add upside risks to inflation The proposed multi-employer wage agreements risk further fuelling inflation by disruptive industrial action. And while employers could circumvent them by striking traditional enterprise agreements... 24th November 2022 · 3 mins read
