Kiwis facing rising cost pressures
Sticker shock is a phenomenon we’re all having to get used to. Whether grabbing groceries at the supermarket, filling up at the petrol station or refixing the mortgage it seems like everything is going up, up, up.
The Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor shows 65% of kiwis are concerned about Inflation/cost of living, and 33% of kiwis are concerned by housing/price of housing. Unsurprising, really, given the consumer price index (CPI) found annual inflation for the December 2022 quarter was 7.2%.
And now a Consumer NZ study finds food price concerns outstrip concerns over renting costs. Back in June 2021, food was ranked the eighth highest financial concern, it has now rocketed to second place, with mortgage payments taking the top spot on the list of worries and rent coming in third. Stats NZ figures show food prices were overall 12% higher this February than they were in February 2022.
So where to from here? The RBNZ’s Survey of Expectations (Business) found that respondents expect inflation to be at 5.11% in a year’s time and at 3.3% in two year’s time; while both outside of the RBNZ’s 1 – 3% target range at least people think it will trend downwards. ANZ’s chief economist Sharon Zollner has warned of the risk inflation could get stuck above the RBNZ’s target band, with services inflation continuing to build even as goods inflation in New Zealand has peaked. The next OCR update is on 5 April – we’ll report back then how the monetary policy committee thinks we’re tracking.
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