New Zealand: Consumer confidence broadly stable in February
The ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence indicator dipped to 113.1 in February from January’s 113.9, which had marked the best print in 11 months. Nonetheless, it remained comfortably above the 100-threshold that separates optimism from pessimism among consumers.
Households’ expectations about their financial situation in the next 12 months lost some ground. Moreover, the net proportion of households thinking it was a good time to buy major household items declined somewhat. On the other hand. consumers’ one-year and five-year general economic outlook improved.
Commenting on the release, Sharon Zollnern analyst at ANZ, stated:
“Meanwhile, households are perceiving a lot of inflation out there. The Reserve Bank tends to focus on what businesses think, as they are the ones who set the prices. But all else equal, high household inflation expectations make it easier for retailers to pass through cost increases, and will also impact wage negotiations in an environment where firms continue to report that finding labour is their biggest problem.”