April presented some new challenges to the global economic outlook, with the Russo-Ukraine war continuing, inflation roared higher, and supply chains were knocked again. Principal Economist Brad Olsen reviewed these global factors and what they mean for the world economy and New Zealand.
The month was broken up by back-to-back long weekends, which gave Brad enough time and inspiration to examine New Zealand’s shop trading rules, where across New Zealand allows Easter Sunday trading, and why our shop trading hours are such a patchwork tapestry of non-sensical rules.
Senior Economist Nick Brunsdon looks at life expectancy for Māori, and the NZ Superannuation age, after the Māori Party called for a lower NZ Super age for Māori. Nick highlights the disparities in life outcomes, some possible bridging support that could be considered, but also highlights the need to address the underlying issues of lower life expectancy.
Just before Easter, Chief Forecaster Gareth Kiernan published our latest economic forecasts along with the rest of the forecasting team, noting that the economy is stressed as we pay the inflated price for too much stimulus. Thankfully, the day before the Reserve Bank heeded our advice and lifted the OCR by 50 basis points, ahead of inflation hitting 6.9%pa (published last week) – the fastest inflation in a generation.
Finally, as usual, we round out the April newsletter with a Chart of the Month from newly appointed Economist Joel Glynn, showing just how downbeat New Zealand households have turned about future economic expectations.
