A review of things you need to know before you go home on Monday; service sector shines; Auckland Council borrows cheap; NZIER says growth will continue; NZD recovering

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

TODAY'S MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
There were no rate changes today.

TODAY'S DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
There were no rate changes for term deposits either. However we note that Liberty Financial now has an investment grade credit rating from S&P. They have improved from BB+ to BBB-, so congratulations to them. It is not everyday this is achieved.

SERVICE SECTOR STRONG
Today's release of the BNZ-BusinessNZ PSI for our service sector was actually quite impressive. It follows a good January index too. It suggests that GDP growth in the March 2015 quarter will not disappoint. It is both the index results for output and new orders that caught our eye.

AUCKLAND COUNCIL SNEAKS ONE
Auckland Council has closed its retail bond offer having successfully raised NZ$250 million. The interest rate for the bonds has been set at 4.017% per annum, reflecting a margin of 0.30% per annum over the effective swap rate for a 5.5 year period. For investors to accept 4% for a 5.5 year term, you either have to be ignoring the bank's retail offer rates (averaging 4.87%), or like paying your broker's fees. Makes no sense to me.

THE GROWTH WILL CONTINUE
The latest NZIER Consensus Forecasts shows economic growth holding up at solid levels over the coming years. The New Zealand economy performed strongly over 2014, boosted by improving household consumption and investment. Forecasters expect growth of 3.3% in the March 2015 year, tapering slightly to 2.9% and 2.8% in the following two years. They see fixed investment levels in residential housing hard to maintain after 2016/17 however.

NEIGHBOURS DEBT ISSUE
Australian households are the most indebted in the world, according to research by Barclays, which warns that the country would be vulnerable in the event of another global financial shock. Barclays chief economist for Australia Kieran Davies says private sector debt-to-income gearing is currently at an all-time high of 206%, up from a pre-global financial crisis (GFC) level of 191%. New Zealand's equivalent level? 158%.

BIG BUY
Fonterra now owns 18.8% of Chinese infant formula manufacturer Beingmate. It cost them NZ$755 mln (RMB ¥3.464 bln )

BRIDGES FOCUSES ON TUNNEL
Transport Minister Simon Bridges says he is "taking steps to future-proof the route for an additional Waitemata Harbour crossing in view of the rapid growth Auckland is set to undergo in the next 20 years." Bridges has asked the NZ Transport Agency to recommence work on the project. He says the preferred route is a tunnel east of the Auckland Harbour Bridge between the Esmonde Road interchange on the North Shore, and Victoria Park Tunnel and Central Motorway Junction in central Auckland.  “Advisors are preparing for the designation process and are putting together a business case focusing on the timing of construction and potential funding options,” Bridges says, adding it's likely to cost between $4 billion and $6 billion.

WHOLESALE RATES FIRM
Today, local wholesale interest rates rose another +1 bp across the curve, far less than what we saw in New York at the end of last week. The 90 day bank bill rate was down -2 bps today to 3.62%.

NZ DOLLAR RISES
Check our real-time charts here.  The NZD took a bit of a fall against a strengthening US dollar over the weekend and started lower today. But in the past hour it has clawed back much of what it gave up on Saturday. It is now at 73.6 USc, at 96.3 AUc, and the TWI is at 79.2. We are also at an all time high against the euro at 69.98 euro cents and now almost certain to break through the 70 euro cent level.

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