ANZ Research updated its Reserve Bank of Australia call to another rate hike in May, following strong January inflation. Red flags are emerging on New Zealand’s inflation front as well.
And then in our deep-dive interview, ANZ Senior Economist Adelaide Timbrell dives into the details of Australia’s strong January CPI data.
5 things to know in 5 minutes:
ANZ Research has updated its call for the Reserve Bank of Australia’s May rate decision, from a hold to another 25 basis point hike to 4.1%. ANZ Head of Australian Economics Adam Boyton says there just hasn’t been enough moderation in trimmed mean inflation for the RBA to be comfortable.
Australian capital expenditure rose 0.4% in the December quarter, following a jump of more than 6% in Q3. ANZ Senior Economist Adelaide Timbrell says it was encouraging to see any growth at all following such a big third quarter.
New Zealand headline business confidence fell 5 points in February, according to ANZ Research’s Business Outlook. ANZ New Zealand Chief Economist Sharon Zoller says the series remains strong at 59 points, with activity indicators looking solid.
Sharon says the Business Outlook’s price indicators showed some red flags, after the Reserve Bank expressed comfort on inflation this month.
The Bank of Korea kept its key rate unchanged at 2.5%. But the big news was that it introduced a new forward projection of six months instead of three. ANZ Economist Krystal Tan says the inaugural anonymous dot plot showed a consensus to hold.
Cheers,
Bernard.
PS: Catch you next week with more on the Bank of Japan’s rate hiking plans.
