Inflation data in focus

Inflation data in focus
Rebecca Howard
New Zealand’s inflation data will be in focus today as the market pulls back from the idea of negative interest rates and some economists even contemplate an eventual rate hike.Westpac Bank is tipping the December quarter consumer prices inflation update to show that inflation has now fallen to just 1 percent – right at the bottom of the Reserve Bank of NZ’s target band.The central bank is mandated with keeping inflation between 1 percent and 3 percent with a focus on the mid-point.Westpac, however, no longer expects two rate...