New Zealand: Inflation accelerates in Q4
Consumer prices increased 0.5% in Q4 2019 over the previous quarter, down slightly from Q3’s 0.7% rise but beating analysts’ expectations of a 0.4% increase, according to Statistics New Zealand. The print showed that prices for non-tradables rose more than prices for tradables. In terms of specific categories, international air transport, actual rental for housing and petrol were the categories that contributed the most to the quarter-on-quarter increase in prices.
Meanwhile, inflation rose to 1.9% in Q4 following Q3’s 1.5%, and thus gazed the Central Bank’s 2.0% target.