Steep rate cut may have spooked households - Westpac

Mon, 16 Sep 2019

By Rebecca Howard Sept. 17 (BusinessDesk) - The number of New Zealand households that would go out and spend a $10,000 windfall fell to its lowest level in 20 years, suggesting consumers may have been scared off by the central bank’s steep rate cut in August, the latest Westpac McDermott Miller survey shows. At the same time, the proportion of households who said they would use a cash windfall to repay debt has rocketed higher, back to levels last seen in 2009. The central bank cut its official cash rate by 50 basis points to a record...

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