RBNZ shifts to sole focus as inflation picture improves

RBNZ shifts to sole focus as inflation picture improves
Inflation staying hot will continue to worry RBNZ. (Image: Getty)
Rebecca Howard
Annual inflation could fall below 5% in the fourth quarter, but economists say still-hot domestic inflation will continue to worry the central bank.Stats NZ published its selected price indexes data on Wednesday, a new monthly data set.Food prices fell 0.2% versus October while rents rose 0.3%.  Domestic airfares were up 3.6% and international airfares fell 3.8%. Petrol was down 2.7% on the month.The data covers 45% of the consumer price index and “suggests the skew of near-term headline risks has shifted to the downside”, said...

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