In view of ANZ analysts, the New Zealand economy has been gradually slowing as key economic tailwinds and headwinds duke it out, and it’s still not entirely clear which will be on top by year-end.

“We expect the tailwinds will regain the upper hand, seeing growth bottom out shortly. While these two opponents are closely matched, help is undoubtedly on the way. The RBNZ has already cut the OCR, and we expect they’ll do so again in August and November; the NZD remains around 2% below late-March levels; and Budget 2019 included a little extra fiscal stimulus. All up, we see annual growth slowing to 2% in Q2, before gradually lifting towards 3% in 2021. That’s not going to drive a strong inflation pulse, but we expect it will be sufficient to keep core inflation elevated close to the target midpoint.”