The SME Stream

The new Reserve Bank Governor is standing by the first OCR decision she's overseen - keeping the cash rate at 2.25 percent.

Anna Breman said the Bank isn't happy with inflation being at 3.1 percent, but it's likely it will drop later in the year.

NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny explained further.

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Signs the job market is on the up.  

New Seek data shows job ads have grown by 1.5% since October and are now 11.7% higher year on year.  

Gisborne's led monthly growth with an almost 4% increase, while Marlborough's the only region with a record annual decline in ads, at -6%.  

However Seek Country Manager Rob Clark says the fact growth stretches across regions and industries is a marked improvement on this year. 

He told Mike Hosking they’re hopeful the growth will continue. 

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We’ve had the first monetary policy decision from the new Reserve Bank Governor, and it’s not until you get a new captain at the helm that you realise just how little confidence you had left in the previous one.

Now, to be fair, it’s early days for Anna Breman. We’ll judge her by what she does from here on in. But she does start with a clean slate - without us reading too much into her decisions or second-guessing every move because of a poor track record. 

And that, I’d say, is a very welcome change from just a few weeks ago before she took over.

Her assessment is that inflation is fine. Yes, it’s a little high right now - 3.1 percent, outside the target band - but it’s expected to fall back within the band by this time next year. 

The economy is improving. The green shoots that were previously limited to certain regions and industries are becoming more widespread. Households are getting more money in their pockets, but they’re still cautious - and that’s a problem.

Because unless they’re confident enough to spend, they’ll hold back the economic recovery from what it could potentially be.

But - and this is probably the bit you’ve been most interested in, and waiting for - they will start raising the OCR faster than expected.

Previously, the Official Cash Rate projection had it going from 2.2 percent in March to 2.3 percent in December. That’s now been brought forward: they’re forecasting 2.3 percent in June and 2.4 percent in December.

The first increase will still most likely be in December, but the chances of it happening in September just increased.

It’s not a major concern. It’s not a major correction. It’s not a game-changer for most people. But it does bring the inevitable a little closer.

Still - for now - it’s nice to have a change at the top, isn’t it? And here’s hoping this Governor does a better job than the last one.

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The new Reserve Bank Governor will deliver her first Monetary Policy Statement today. 

The central bank's expected to keep the OCR unchanged at 2.25%. 

It's likely to show when inflation should start easing, and when the economy should recover from last year's downturn. 

BNZ Chief Economist Mike Jones told Mike Hosking today’s announcement will likely see them swap out the mild easing bias the bank had in November and replace it with a mild tightening bias.  

He says they believe the Reserve Bank will probably want to signal a hike by around December this year. 

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The Opportunity Party leader Qiulae Wong says the party wants to replace super with a new support system

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Freightways Chief Executive, Mark Troughear, says the new border tax is unfairly applied and talks about the company's efforts to address this issue with the government.

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We'll learn today, where the new Reserve Bank Governor sees the OCR heading.

The central bank's expected to keep the Official Cash Rate unchanged at 2.25 percent.

Governor Anna Breman will be releasing her first Monetary Policy Statement since taking charge 11 weeks ago.

It's likely to show when inflation should start easing, and when the economy should recover from last year's downturn.

Economists expect the OCR will rise again late this year and early next year.

Westpac Chief Economist Kelly Eckhold shares his thoughts with Ryan. 

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The business events sector's working to bump up our international multi-day conferences, which are currently lagging behind domestic bookings. 

A Business Events Industry Aotearoa report shows events contributed $925 million to the economy last year.  

Multi-day conferences generated approximately 1.5-million visitor nights for accommodation, nationwide. 

BusinessNZ Advocacy Director Catherine Beard told Ryan Bridge if you want to attract events you have to have good venues that are big enough to take big conferences – like the new International Conference Centre in Auckland. 

She says it’s a bit like stadium shows for major music acts – if you don’t have the events and can’t draw the crowds, you’re going to miss out. 

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Labour has raised some concerns over the FTA with India, but Finance Minister Nicola Willis is pushing back.

The opposition says they want the un-redacted advice about the deal and greater protection for migrant workers. 

Nicola Willis says there's strong aspirations in the agreement to promote investment.

"What it's saying is - let's both agree to promote significant levels of investment in our respective countries, let's put some aspirational targets out there."

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Labour’s trade spokesman comments on the Indian FTA, whether Labour will support it, and ponders who the candidates for the West Coast Tasman electorate could be.

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