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A review of things you need to know before you go home Monday; TSB Bank slices mortgage rate, 2 banks adjust TD rates, higher confidence, expanding services, upbeat rural, swaps stable, NZD lifts

A review of things you need to know before you go home Monday; TSB Bank slices mortgage rate, 2 banks adjust TD rates, higher confidence, expanding services, upbeat rural, swaps stable, NZD lifts

Skip reading now if you don't believe positive news. Here are the key things you need to know before you leave work today.

MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
TSB Bank has launched a new 4.49% two year 'special'. More here.

DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
Kiwibank has shifted its 3.60% nine month rate back to 3.30%, and raised its 5 month rate from 3.10% to 3.55%. Kiwibank has also taken -20 bps off its one year rate and now 3.30% is now the highest rate it has at that term. Westpac has taken -15 bps off its one year rate, adopting a 3.15% rate for that term.

WOT, ME WORRY?
It is usual for consumer confidence levels to sag in the winter months. But the latest Westpac MM consumer sentiment survey does not show that this year. June saw widespread gains in consumer confidence they found. However, spending appetites have softened. And households don’t seem worried about debt repayment, despite high levels of debt.

EXPANDING EXPANSION
And that data is confirmed and affirmed in the May survey of the service sector. The PSI for May was 58.8. This was +5.6 points higher than April, and a return to expansion levels seen during five of the last six months. The hick-up in April has been shown as the aberration.

AUTOMATIC TAX REFUNDS?
Believe it or not, we have one of the world's simplest tax systems and new proposals are on the table to make it even simpler. The Government proposal for people whose only income is from a salary, wages or investments is that they will no longer being required to file tax returns to receive tax refunds or to calculate any additional tax. The consultation document, Better administration of individuals’ income tax, was released today. Under the proposed system people will be much less likely to end up with large tax bills at the end of the year. They’ll be paying a more accurate amount through the year and receive any refunds automatically. Automatic tax refunds will undermine the business those firms who offer to claim refunds for you for a percentage of the refund.

UPBEAT RURAL OUTLOOK
Rabobank's latest rural market review offers a sense of better times ahead for farmers. Milk price signals for 2017/18 season point towards another good year. Beef prices are marginally higher than last season and the US domestic demand continues to support stronger export prices. The global lamb shortage is underlying high prices. And with local processing remaining low, there is further upside on the horizon. But wool markets have been low, but stable, this month. It will need higher manufacturing demand strengthen to support the sector.

CO-OP BANK PAYS OUT TODAY
Update: The Co-operative Bank is today sharing $2.1 mln in rebate payments with its customers. The rebate will be between $10 and $500 for most customers. The bank's profit before rebates and tax in the year ended 31 March 2017 rose +4% to $16.5 mln. More than 15,000 new customers joined the bank in the 12 months to 31 March, taking its customer base to 156,000.

WHOLESALE RATES MARGINALLY FIRMER
Rates for all terms are +1 bp higher today, except for the one year. The 90 day bank bill rate is unchanged at 1.93%.

NZ DOLLAR ALSO FIRMER
NZD is higher today at 72.8 USc. On the cross rates, against the Aussie we are at 95.6 AUc, and we are at 65 euro cents. The TWI-5 is now at 77. And bitcoin is only up +1% at US$2,604 today.

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5 Comments

People don't worry about debt as they aren't focused on their finances at all. They get marginally more concerned when they are in financial difficulty but often have no idea how bad it really is. Kiwis love piling up debt.

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Can't wait until NZ gets like Australia. Their ATO has committed to pay tax returns after 2 weeks and they stick to that. Our IRD and their long time delay 6-8+ weeks, it is extremely poor service to beThankbe honest. They had online returns maybe 10 years ago. Come on IRD play catch up.

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It takes you 10 weeks just to fill out an Australian tax return

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Moody's takes a butter knife to the Australian banks. Slice by slice.

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