NZ: CPI likely to rise by 0.1% in December quarter – Westpac

Michael Gordon, senior economist at Westpac, expects a 0.1% rise in the New Zealand’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the December quarter, with annual inflation holding at 1.9%.

Key Quotes

“The recent volatility in fuel prices will end up having little bearing on the December quarter figures, though it will weigh on inflation in the early part of this year.”

“The tightening labour market and the lower New Zealand dollar are expected to support a pickup in underlying inflation.”

“While we expect overall inflation to come in a little below the Reserve Bank’s forecast, that’s entirely due to the recent drop in fuel prices. We think that domestically-generated inflation will be stronger than the Reserve Bank’s forecast.”