A review of things you need to know before you go home on Thursday; term deposit rate changes; Crown accounts; used car imports; rents stable; safe drinking water; Westpac Pay; Onehunga Wharf; rates stable; NZD firm

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

MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
No changes today.

TERM DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
NZCU Baywide has reduced its 12 mnth, 18 mnth and 24 mnth rates by -10 bps to 3.60%, 3.70% and 3.90% respectively.

CROWN ACCOUNTS
Core Crown tax revenue at $73.5 billion for the eleven months to 31 May 2018, was close to forecast. Source deductions were $0.3 billion above forecast, with recent data releases indicating that the labour market may be a little stronger than was forecast in the 2018 Budget. Corporate tax was below forecast by $0.2 billion, mainly owing to seasonal fluctuations in provisional tax assessments, which are expected to reverse in June. Core Crown expenses of $73.0 billion were $0.4 billion lower than forecast. This variance was spread across a number of departments. The operating balance before gains and losses (OBEGAL) was a surplus of $5.2 billion ($0.5 billion higher than forecast). The operating balance (excluding minority interests) was a $7.9 billion surplus, $0.5 billion less than forecast. Core Crown residual cash was a surplus of $1.2 billion, an improvement of $0.9 billion from forecast, with lower than forecast operating payments of $0.7 billion contributing to the result, along with tax receipts being $0.2 billion ahead of forecast. Net core Crown debt was $57.5 billion (20.1% of GDP) as at 31 May 2018 and was $1.1 billion lower than forecast largely due to the higher than forecast residual cash surplus.

USED CAR IMPORTS
Sales data of NZ unregistered used car imports shows that 12,651 cars were sold in the month of June 2018.  This number is 5.2% lower than June 2017. The number of cars sold in the year ending June 2018 was 160,274, up from 157,216 in the year ending June 2017. This, however, is lower than the January 2018 peak 166,440 and is the fifth straight month of declines. The market leader in the month of June 2018 was Toyota with 2,881 sales, followed by Nissan with 2486 and Mazda with 2018 sales.

RENTS STABLE
Median rents in New Zealand for all property types were stable at $420 in June 2018. Median rents for 3 bedroom houses, nationally, were also stable at $450. 3 bedroom houses in Auckland were flat at $650 but were down in Wellington and Christchurch to $570 and $415 respectively. 2 bedroom flat rents were down nationally to $350 from $360. In the major centres, rents for 2 bedroom flats were slightly up in Auckland, flat in Wellington and down in Christchurch.

SAFE DRINKING WATER
The Government is amending the Health Act to allow for significant improvements to the safety of drinking-water in New Zealand, the Health Minister Dr David Clark has announced. An inquiry which followed the outbreak of gastroenteritis in Havelock North in August 2016 estimated that up to 100,000 Kiwis were getting sick from drinking-water every year. The amendments to the Health Act 1956 are an interim step which improves the efficiency and effectiveness of the existing drinking-water safety regime and allows for faster implementation of major reforms to come. The key change is the removal of the requirement for a five year consultation and notification period for changes to drinking-water standards. These changes to the Act will ensure that drinking-water standards can be improved and implemented faster and more efficiently.

'WESTPAC PAY' LAUNCHED
Westpac NZ has launched 'Westpac Pay', enabling customers with Westpac One Mastercard debit or credit cards and Android smartphones to make contactless payments. The bank says Westpac Pay has the same level of security and protection as customers' physical cards, and for added security, payment preferences can be customised by users to require the smartphone be unlocked or logged in to Westpac Pay prior to payment.  Payments of $80 and above require a pin number to be entered into the payment terminal.

ONEHUNGA WHARF PURCHASE
Onehunga Wharf has been acquired by Auckland Council in a move that will be critical to the revitalisation of Onehunga over the next 30 years. The vision for the wharf is that it will be transformed into a new community with homes, cafes, retail and public space, while retaining its seafaring history and spirit. The transformation will be led by the city’s redevelopment agency, Panuku Development Auckland, which will work with the community to realise the vision.

NZGB TENDER
Tender #640 for inflation-linked 2040 New Zealand Government bonds had 50 bidders with $226 mln worth of subscriptions for the $100 mln on offer. The highest yield accepted was 1.9650% and the lowest yield accepted was 1.9350%, with a weighted average accepted yield of 1.9517%.

SWAP RATES STABLE
Local swap rates were up +1 bp at the short to middle end of the curve. The long end of the swap curve was stable. The UST 10yr is now at 2.84%, up +1 bp. The Aussie Govt 10yr is at 2.60, up +1 bp, the China Govt 10yr is at 3.53% (up +2 bps), and the NZ Govt 10 yr is at 2.81%, up +1 bps. The 90 day bank bill rate is down -1 bp to 1.97%.

BITCOIN HIGHER
The bitcoin price is now at US$6,634 which is +2.7% higher than this time yesterday.

NZD FIRM
The NZD is firm at 67.6 USc. On the cross rate we are at 91.6 AUc and 58 euro cents. That has the TWI-5 at 71.0.

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