Key View

• Following the Reserve Bank Of New Zealand’s (RBNZ) November 24 meeting where it hiked its Official Cash Rate (OCR) by 25bps to 0.75%, we Fitch Solutions now forecast a further 125bps rate hike to 2.00% by end-2022, higher than our previous forecast of 1.50%.
• With economic activity looking to further normalise amid easing restrictions

Key View

• We at Fitch Solutions believe that the new Resource Management Amendment Bill announced will do little to alleviate increasing housing costs in the short run.
• Waning housing affordability will look to worsen social outcomes which could weigh on social stability.
• While waning housing affordability will weigh on the labour party’s

Key View

• We at Fitch Solutions now expect the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) to hike its official cash rate (OCR) to 0.75% by end-2021 and 1.5% by end-2022, compared to our previous forecast for rates to be at 0.5% and 1.25% by end-2021 and 2022 respectively.
• With the economy proving resilient to the Covid-19 outbreak, we believe that the

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• Public funding for novel pharmaceuticals remains difficult in New Zealand.
• Multi-national drugmakers do not regard New Zealand as an attractive market.
• The country’s strict medicine budget will continue to limit pharmaceutical market growth.

Public funding for novel pharmaceuticals remains difficult in New Zealand. Underpinnin

Key View

• We at Fitch Solutions have slightly revised down our 2021 real GDP forecast for New Zealand from 5.5% to 5.3%.
• In Q121, the economy surprised on the upside and posted growth of 17.4% year-on-year. The ongoing recovery is being driven by rapidly strengthening domestic demand that is likely being supported by deferred spending needs

Key View

• We at Fitch Solutions have revised up our forecast for New Zealand’s economy to grow by 5.5% in 2021, from 3.6% previously.
• The upward revision reflects the better than anticipated GDP results for Q121 which showed that the economy grew 3.6% y-o-y on the back of strong domestic demand.
• We expect private consumption and gross fixed

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• New policies will reshape New Zealand’s health system.
• The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted problems in the current healthcare structure.
• Government will continue to focus on healthcare cost containment.

New policies will reshape New Zealand’s health system, which has been under stress for some time. On April 21 2021, the New

Key View

• We at Fitch Solutions now expect the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ, the central bank) to keep its benchmark official cash rate (OCR) unchanged at 0.25% till the end of 2022 at least.
• This view is a departure from our earlier expectation of further easing of OCR by 25 basis points in 2021 and is driven by the gradual strengthening

Key View

• New Zealand's electric vehicle (EV) market is set to experience exponential growth from 2021 onwards as the national government starts to implement its carbon reduction policies.
• The country's Labour and Green party coalition will drive long-term growth in EV sales as they will likely improve the incentives offered for EV adoption in

Key View

• In terms of the personal care market in Asia, New Zealand is often overlooked in favour of South Korea, China and Japan. However, on a per capita level, New Zealand consumers spend more on personal care, than any other country in the region.
• The Covid-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on spending levels, but while consumers are