Walkers and customers walk alongside Lambton Pier in Wellington, New Zealand, on 15 December 2020.
Photographer: Birgit Krippner / Bloomberg
Photographer: Birgit Krippner / Bloomberg
New Zealand inflation was stronger than expected by economists in the fourth quarter, adding to signs that the central bank may no longer have to cut interest rates.
Consumer prices rose 1.4% from a year earlier, New Zealand Statistics said Friday in Wellington, matching the third-quarter reading. Economists had expected inflation to rise to 1.1%. Prices rose 0.5% from three months earlier, higher than the expected 0.2%.
The Reserve Bank has forecast that inflation will fall below their 1-3% target range this year, suggesting monetary policy will remain encouraging. However, as the economy recovers from Covid ‘s recession last year, there are signs of a gradual rise in price pressures that make it so likely that the central bank will have to cut interest rates. no longer.
The New Zealand dollar rose about a quarter of a U.S. percent after the report, buying 72.2. penny at 10:50 am in Wellington.