Imre Speizer, an analyst at Westpac, notes that today’s NZ budget had little for FX markets, with the sovereign credit rating (S&P AA, positive outlook) continuing to be supported by solid fiscal metrics.
- “Projected operating surpluses were smaller due to extra spending, but still positive, and net debt increased but remains close to 20% GDP – low compared to most peers.
- At the margin, given the larger-than-expected spending projected, there’s arguably less need for monetary policy easing, which should be NZD supportive.
- However, the dominant force on NZD/USD is the US dollar’s uptrend which remains intact, and should continue to propel NZD/USD towards 0.6425 over the next month.”