A review of things you need to know before you go home on Monday; TD rates rise, rural accident rate, WMP prices turn up, Goff caps rate rises at +2.5%, swaps fall and flatten, NZD up

Here are the key things you need to know before you leave work today.

MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
So far today, no rate changes to report on the home loan front. Bill English thinks mortgage rates have bottomed out.

DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
Kiwibank and Westpac both raised some key term deposit rates today, which Kiwibank also tweaked a few shorter rates lower. See the link for details.

RURAL SAFETY IMPROVES
Workers in elementary occupations such as cleaners, rubbish collectors, and labourers had the highest rate of injury in 2015, Statistics NZ said today. They also said the rate for agriculture and fishery workers moved down from the top spot for the first time in eight years.

PAYDAY LENDING CRACKDOWN
South Auckland payday lender Twenty Fifty Club and its sole director Gavin Marsich have been fined a total of $76,000 and Marsich has been banned indefinitely from carrying out any further consumer lending. In addition, Marsich has been ordered to pay $4,400 in compensation to one borrower. The Judge also made orders preventing Twenty Fifty from enforcing its “marketing fee”, “marketing koha” or default fees on any existing loans.

A TURN UP?
It is not till next week until the next dairy auction, but signals today in the dairy derivatives market suggests the recent weaker pricing signals may have turned for the better. WMP prices at the last auction averaged US$3,423 and today they turned up to US$3,463, now a +1.2% gain.

AUDITING THE AUDITORS
The FMA is the body responsible for assessing how auditors perform. Their latest review saw some progress, but it also saw areas that still needed improvement. These include: Internal reviews of audit quality control, Independence – especially where a firm is providing non-assurance services, Greater focus on audit evidence and detailed documentation, and Auditor’s responsibility relating to fraud.

QUAKE SUPPORT NOW AVAILABLE IN WELLINGTON
The Government has announced today that the employee support subsidy for quake-affected businesses has been extended to support specific Wellington region businesses prevented from operating for several weeks due to building damage as a result of the November 14 earthquake. The support subsidy will be at the same rate as for businesses in other areas. It will cover up to eight weeks at a rate of: ·$500 gross per week for a full time employee ($4,000 per person); ·$300 gross per week for a part time employee ($2,400 per person); ·It will not be subject to GST (i.e. so employees get a higher net subsidy); and it will apply only for the period from when the company is prevented from operating i.e. until the cordon is lifted.

MORE CROWN-DIRECTED HOUSING
The Government has 'acquired' more land on the Te Atatu Peninsula for 60 new apartments, 12 of which will be sold below the HomeStart cap of $650,000 and 12 of which will be for social housing. The opportunity to develop the land will first be offered to Ngā Mana Whenua through its Limited Partnership. This site is just 12 km from the Auckland CBD and less than 2 kms from the Te Atatu Peninsula Town Centre.

RESTRAINED RATES, MORE TARGETED TAXES
Auckland mayor Phil Goff has today released a plan to restrict rate rises and raise significant new revenue while restraining borrowing and supporting underpaid and vulnerable Aucklanders. The proposed consultation items include restricting the annual average rate rise to +2.5% (Len Brown's cap was +3.5%) and addressing Auckland’s need for extra revenue to support growth with the proposed introduction of a visitor levy, a targeted rate for new large-scale developments and a regional fuel tax.

WHOLESALE RATES A LOT LOWER & A LOT FLATTER
Wholesale rates gave up much of their recent gains today, slipping back to positions we saw eight days ago. These moves came ahead of the reopening of Wall Street markets following the American Thanksgiving weekend holiday. Whether today's move signal a retrenchment, or is just a local blip won't we assessed until tomorrow at the earliest. Two year swaps are -3 bps lower today, five year swaps are -4 bps lower, and ten year swaps are -7 bps lower. The 90-day bank bill is unchanged at 2.03%.

NZ DOLLAR FIRMER
The Kiwi dollar is a little higher today than at this time on Friday, at 70.6 USc. On the cross rates it is back up to 94.9 AUc, and is holding at 66.4 euro cents. The TWI-5 at 76.3 Check our real-time charts here. And for a 2+ year view on where exchange rates are headed, see this.

You can now see an animation of this chart. Click on it, or click here.