Faster wage growth from new labour law settings will stoke inflation, ASB economists say

Thu, 12 Jul 2018

By Paul McBeth July 12 (BusinessDesk) - Hikes to New Zealand's minimum wage and a move towards collective bargaining will accelerate the pace of pay rises over the next five years and spur inflation, ASB Bank economists say. Economist Mark Smith and chief economist Nick Tuffley said in a note the planned increase in the minimum wage to $20 an hour by 2021 could add between 0.5 and 0.7 percentage points to annual wage inflation through to the middle of 2022 as the 13 percent of workers on the bottom pay rung or earning a little more shift...

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