FX Update:
RBNZ handed out no surprises last week when they left the policy settings in place with the official cash rate remaining unchanged at 0.25% and no changes to the large-scale bond purchases or funding for lending programs for banks. Inflation is expected to jump higher this year from the current 1.4% to well over the 2.0% target point with pressures on import prices and global supply chain disruptions and rises in shipping costs. Most banks expect the OCR to remain unchanged until 2025. I’m not sure they can accurately predict what happens in the global economies 4 years out – as we know 6 months of economic reporting in these coronavirus-fuelled times can look vastly different to forecasted predictions as we have seen. The biggest changes recently to the government’s mandate is housing and the recent changes to loan to value ratios, investment property tax, and how they will react going forward to stronger property prices.
Key Points:
- Worldwide coronavirus cases surpass 139.665 million with over 2.998 million official deaths.
- US Stocks hit fresh closing levels Friday as the bull party continues.
- The long-awaited New Zealand and Australia travel bubble between the two countries started Monday.
- Copper prices are on the rise, a reliable economic indicator of global optimism.
- The European Union’s coronavirus vaccine rollout is finally gaining momentum.