FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - The Reserve Bank of New Zealand may start to find it harder and harder to maintain its cash rate steady in the foreseeable future, according to BNZ economist Stephen Toplis.
From Mr. Toplis: "A very weak PMI, followed by today’s weak PSI, intimates that Q3 GDP might print very poorly indeed. Consensus forecasts for global growth remain under pressure. The Australian economy is looking demonstrably shaky, resulting in grief for domestic manufacturers, and the RBA is easing. The NZD TWI sits stubbornly 1.4% above the RBNZ’s assumed Q4-average. And the annual CPI is about to print below the bottom edge of the RBNZ’s 1-3% target range. We, thus, now put the probability of an easing as high as 35%."
The BNZ Analyt adds: "We stick with our view that rates are on hold for some time to come but warn that the downside risk should not be ignored. The market is now pricing in around an 85% chance of a cut over the coming 12 months. It’s been pricing in a reduction in rates consistently for much of the last year and we have railed against it. While we think the odds are overdone, the situation has certainly changed sufficiently for us to be much less aggressive in our dissension. For us the catalyst for an easing will be continued appreciation in the NZD accompanied by a stalling in the domestic housing market."
From Mr. Toplis: "A very weak PMI, followed by today’s weak PSI, intimates that Q3 GDP might print very poorly indeed. Consensus forecasts for global growth remain under pressure. The Australian economy is looking demonstrably shaky, resulting in grief for domestic manufacturers, and the RBA is easing. The NZD TWI sits stubbornly 1.4% above the RBNZ’s assumed Q4-average. And the annual CPI is about to print below the bottom edge of the RBNZ’s 1-3% target range. We, thus, now put the probability of an easing as high as 35%."
The BNZ Analyt adds: "We stick with our view that rates are on hold for some time to come but warn that the downside risk should not be ignored. The market is now pricing in around an 85% chance of a cut over the coming 12 months. It’s been pricing in a reduction in rates consistently for much of the last year and we have railed against it. While we think the odds are overdone, the situation has certainly changed sufficiently for us to be much less aggressive in our dissension. For us the catalyst for an easing will be continued appreciation in the NZD accompanied by a stalling in the domestic housing market."
