Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly RBA muddies the waters with pause The RBA's decision to leave rates on hold earlier this week doesn't signal the end of its hiking cycle, contrary to what markets expect. Given ongoing concerns about the stickiness of inflation, we... 6th April 2023 · 5 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Minimum wage will surge again With Australian unions and the government both in agreement on the need to protect low-income workers, we expect a bumper 6% rise in the minimum wage this year. However, given the low share of workers... 31st March 2023 · 5 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly RBA on a knife-edge With the minutes of the RBA's March meeting pointing to a slightly more dovish stance, there are growing risks to our forecast for continued tightening in April and May. We think the case for a pause... 24th March 2023 · 6 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly RBA will shrug off market jitters Amid signs of trouble in the global banking system, markets believe that the RBA is done tightening and that rate cuts will be on the cards soon. However, with domestic demand showing few signs of... 17th March 2023 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly The RBA won’t hit pause just yet RBA Governor Phil Lowe’s statement that the Board was closer to a pause was interpreted by financial markets as a marginally dovish signal. However, with inflation yet to fall in earnest and the... 10th March 2023 · 6 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Private consumption will weaken further this year While Q4 GDP was broadly in line in with our expectations, the details show that the Australian consumer is on weaker ground than we had thought. The confluence of falling real disposable incomes... 3rd March 2023 · 6 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Risk of wage-price spiral still contained The more muted rise in wages last quarter should mollify the RBA’s concerns that the surge in inflation will trigger a wage-price spiral. While the fading impact of last year’s outsized minimum wage... 24th February 2023 · 7 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Weaker labour market will keep a lid on wage growth While the second consecutive fall in employment in January may partly reflect seasonal distortions, there can be little doubt that the labour market is rapidly losing momentum. The unemployment rate... 17th February 2023 · 6 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Hawkish RBA will lift cash rate above 4% by May With inflation surpassing its forecasts, the Reserve Bank of Australia is becoming increasingly concerned about a wage-price spiral. Accordingly, we’re lifting our forecast for the peak in the cash... 10th February 2023 · 5 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Housing slump still searching for the bottom Australia’s house prices are still falling rapidly and there is no bottom in sight. The fastest house price decline in Australia’s history will soon be the largest as the RBA continues to ratchet... 3rd February 2023 · 4 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Upstream price pressures are turning Stronger-than-expected consumer price inflation data from Australia this week underlined the pressure the RBA is still under. But there is also growing evidence that upstream price pressures are... 27th January 2023 · 5 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Strong income growth in New Zealand won’t last The resignation of New Zealand’s Prime Minister opens the door for the opposition to return to power, who have signalled looser policy at a time when government spending is already around record highs... 20th January 2023 · 6 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly RBA has more work to do With inflation remaining stubbornly high and consumption resilient, the Reserve Bank of Australia will continue to hike interest rates for a while yet. However, there are some early signs that the... 13th January 2023 · 5 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly China reopening, price pressures moderating The dismantling of China’s Zero-Covid regime will encourage more Chinese tourists and students to come to Australia and New Zealand. That could eventually boost Australia’s GDP by nearly 1%-pt, though... 6th January 2023 · 6 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Leading indicators flashing red in New Zealand New Zealand has been the canary in the coalmine for the global economy in recent years so the plunge in the ANZ activity outlook to the second-lowest level on record is cause for concern. Meanwhile... 23rd December 2022 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly More stringent price cap still not a disaster The proposed price caps for natural gas are more stringent than we had thought because the government intends to regulate prices for the foreseeable future. However, we still think that the impact on... 16th December 2022 · 4 mins read
