Episode Details

Kia ora,

Welcome to Monday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.

I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz.

And today we lead with news of a large number of key new releases to end the year.

It might be the final full week before the summer holidays (in New Zealand), but there will be a lot going on and a lot to follow. Here of course it is the week when corporates and the government release their 'bad news' stories in the hope people are distracted. Then the REINZ will release its November data. And there will be a full dairy auction on Wednesday morning. Thursday will bring our Q3 GDP, expected to confirm we have been in recession.

But there is not a lot on the card from Australia this week, other than a consumer sentiment survey from Westpac which we need to keep an eye on.

Globally, the big set piece will be the US Fed's monetary policy review on Thursday NZT. A -25 bps cut is expected there. And that comes in the middle of a large raft of important US data updates. China has a good chunky set too. Japan will chime in with its own, including their rate review where now, no change is anticipated. There are other central bank reviews as well, from Sweden (uncertain), Norway (no change), Indonesia (-25 bps), Taiwan (no change), Thailand (no change) and the Philippines (-25 bps). Russia is also expected to push its policy rate up by +200 bps to 23%. Canada and the EU will have their own key data releases.

In the meantime we start the week with global interest rates on the move up and the US rate inversions have now vanished. Except in China where there is a rush on for the safety of Government bonds which is driving down yields to record lows. And positive-sloping yield curves are returning.

As we noted, the US Fed is expected to cut rates by -25 bps at its December meeting next week on Thursday NZT, bringing the benchmark range to 4.25%-4.50%, and a full percentage point drop since September. Economists anticipate slower cuts ahead, with only three reductions projected for 2025. Those cuts may be delayed if inflation remains above the Fed's target.

As the Trump team prepares for the transition, its anti-regulation focus is coming into view. They are seeking candidates to eliminate or eviscerate the FDIC (sought by big banks), and rid themselves of car-crash reporting (as sought by Elon Musk). The billionaire sharks are going after consumer protections.

Canadian manufacturing sales were up strongly in October, their best growth spurt in nearly two years. That made them +1.4% higher than the same month a year ago. While that isn't quite besting inflation, the recent moves up will be encouraging them.

Across the Pacific, Chinese banks extended just ¥580 bln in new yuan loans in November, less than half the same month a year ago, and nearly half of what was expected. This is the lowest new lending for a November since 2012. The decline took place despite the aggressive monetary stimulus measures from the PBoC in late September in an attempt to halt the property market downturn. There have also been much higher levels of local government debt issued in that time too. Poor credit demand in China is saying a lot about Beijing's management of their economy and its prospects.

President Xi and hi