Slower Inflation Joins Dairy Drop to Pare Bets on RBNZ Rate Path
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New Zealand inflation unexpectedly slowed and dairy prices extended a decline, sending the nation’s currency lower as traders pared bets on the scale of future interest-rate increases.
The annual inflation rate fell to 1.5 percent in the first quarter from 1.6 percent in the final three months of 2013, Statistics New Zealand said in Wellington today. Economists predicted an acceleration to 1.7 percent, according to the median of 14 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey. Separately, dairy prices fell for a fifth successive auction, extending their decline to 21.9 percent, GlobalDairyTrade said overnight.