Latest set of forecasts released by the New Zealand Treasury department
- Annual inflation less than 2% in 2018
Annual GDP growth was +2.9% in Q4 2017, slightly below the +3.0% threshold that was expected.
While still decent, the comments here by the NZ Treasury isn't particularly encouraging as it means that growth prospects for the first half of the year may not be up to par with what was seen last year.
The report says that annual GDP growth is "to be a little below 3.0% over the first half of 2018", adding that "business confidence, own activity and investment intentions align with our expectations".
On inflation, the report says "it expects annual inflation to increase slowly over coming years" while noting that Q1 inflation result does not materially impact the Treasury's view of future path of interest rates.