Suchergebnisse

Discussion about the potential for a recession to hit at least one of the major economies has intensified in recent months. The US Federal Reserve has become more cautious about the outlook for the US economy, and over the past year has moved from a hiking bias to cutting interest rates. Here in New Zealand, the Reserve Bank embarked on another easing cycle by cutting the Official Cash Rate (OCR) at its May meeting and followed up with a 50 basis points cut at its August meeting. We look at what current conditions are telling us about the state of the New Zealand economy, and by considering the common indicators of a recession discuss how worried we should be. We also look at the levers available to try and combat the effects of a recession.

New Zealand has managed the COVID-19 outbreak with relative success, in terms of containing infection rates and deaths. This has seen New Zealand move down alert levels over the past few weeks as we achieved zero active cases, with restrictions relaxed but the border closed. However, the impact of the outbreak on the economy is undeniable. The effects have also been uneven across the industries, and this will affect the recovery ahead. We assess the policy implications and key considerations for Government spending as we gear up for this recovery.

The new Labour-New Zealand First coalition Government has indicated it would review the Reserve Bank Act, with consideration of "full employment" to be added to the central bank's inflation target when setting monetary policy. Monetary policy has been extraordinarily loose in the major economies in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Despite that, growth and inflation in the major economies have been slow to pick up. In contrast, asset prices have surged, and household debt levels have expanded rapidly. This divergence between subdued general consumer price inflation and accelerating asset price inflation has raised questions about whether the current monetary policy framework, both abroad and here in New Zealand, is fit for purpose.

The purpose of this study, commissioned by the Ministry for Pacific Peoples, is to test the feasibility of a Pacific Cultural Centre (PCC) to serve objectives for: economic development, promotion and preservation of Pacific culture and vocational pathways and job opportunities.