Here are the key things you need to know before you leave work today:
MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
No changes to report today.
TERM DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
No changes here either.
WELFARE ADVISORY GROUP ESTABLISHED
"The Welfare Expert Advisory Group has been asked to undertake a broad-ranging review of the welfare system. It will deliver advice to the Government on ways to ensure people have an adequate income and standard of living, are treated with respect, can live in dignity, and are able to participate meaningfully in their communities. Areas that the Welfare Expert Advisory Group has been asked to focus on range from considering the overall purpose of the system, through to specific recommendations on the current obligations and sanctions regime." Minister for Social Development, Hon Carmel Sepuloni said. See bios of group members here.
F&P HEALTHCARE
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corporation Limited today reported record net profit after tax of NZ$190.2 million for the year ended 31 March 2018, an increase of 12% over the previous year. Operating revenue was a record NZ$980.8 million, 10% above the prior year, with 87% of revenue from recurring items, such as consumables and accessories. The company’s directors have approved an increased fully imputed final dividend of 12.50 cents per share, taking the total dividends for the year to 21.25 cents per share, an increase of 9% on the previous year.
SBS PROFIT DIPS AFTER WAREHOUSE PURCHASE
SBS has posted a $785,000, or 2.9%, drop in March year net surplus to $26.663 million. The drop was attributed to the acquisition costs of the Warehouse Group Financial Services. Both lending and retail funding increased 11% year-on-year, SBS says. Chairman John Ward says the acquisition was a strategic decision to facilitate growth.
BRENDAN O'DONOVAN TO CHAIR THE CO-OPERATIVE BANK
The Co-operative Bank has posted a 1.2% increase in annual profit before rebates and tax to $16.7 million for its March year. The bank is paying $2.1 million in rebates to 115,000 customers in June. Co-op grew mortgage lending by 8.5% and retail deposits by 8.1%. It added about 14,000 customers, increasing its customer base to 165,000, and now has 13,000 credit card customers. Chairman Steven Fyfe retires in June to be succeeded by ex-Westpac economist Brendan O'Donovan, a Co-op director since 2012.
EXPANSION OF CYBER DEFENCE SERVICE
Minister Responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB), Hon Andrew Little, has announced the agency will expand its Malware-Free Networks (MFN) cyber defence initiative. “We live in an increasingly global and connected world in which reckless and malicious cyber activity poses a threat to our digital information and our economic wellbeing. To further help address this threat GCSB will offer its Malware-Free Networks cyber threat detection and disruption service to a broad cross section of New Zealand’s organisations of national significance. The decision to expand Malware-Free Networks follows a successful pilot with Vodafone and a small subgroup of Vodafone’s consenting customers. The pilot showed the Malware-Free Networks capability has the potential to disrupt a significant volume of malicious cyber activity. There was a substantial increase in the volume of activity detected and disrupted when the Malware-Free Networks information was used in conjunction with the network operator’s existing cyber security capability." Minister Little said.
CHINA INDUSTRIAL PROFITS
Profits earned by Chinese industrial firms in April rose at their fastest pace in six months, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Sunday, as factories benefited from higher prices and strong demand. Profits in April rose 21.9 percent year-on-year to 576 billion yuan ($90.14 billion), the quickest since October, bringing gains for the first four months of 2018 to 15 percent. The data suggests China’s industrial sector is still seeing solid growth momentum despite curbs on pollution and rocky trade relations with the United States. Last month’s rebound was helped by lower comparison figures for April 2017, higher factory prices and stronger demand, He Ping, head of NBS’ industrial division, said in a statement.
BENCHMARK INTEREST RATES LOWER
Local swap rates are lower today, with the short end down -1 bps and the long end down -3 bps. The UST 10yr yield has dropped -6 bps to 2.93%. The Aussie Govt 10 yr is now at 2.74% (down -5 bps). The China 10 yr is at 3.64%, down -5 bps. And the NZ Govt 10 yr is down -6 bps to 2.73%. The 90 day bank bill rate is up +1 bps to 2.00%.
BITCOIN LOWER
The bitcoin price is now at US$7,357 which is down -2.7% from this time Friday.
NZ DOLLAR HIGHER
The NZD is up to 69.5 USc. We are little changed against the Aussie at 91.7 AUc, and up slightly against the euro at 59.4 euro cents. That has the TWI-5 now at 72.4.
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14 Comments
Consult as many groups as you want but average New Zealanders will remain overburdened by welfare payouts as long as a large portion of newly-created jobs created are for low-paying, unskilled workers, and competition at these skill levels continue to increase due to an influx of migrants.
I agree with Carmel in the stated objectives. We will however most likely disagree on the actions. Actions should invoke an incentive to work and disincentive to stay on a benefit indefinitely. The endemically unemployed and intergenerational welfare class reflect that there is something wrong in our society.
A welfare system should be a safety net to help people back into employment and protect those unable to be gainfully employed. It should not provide an incentive to those who will not pull themselves up by their own bootstraps or reward the endemically idle..... or am I just old fashioned?
No, you are not being old-fashioned. People should be incentivised to get themselves off benefits / to work.
Allowing people to stay on benefits, when they could be working, serves no one's interests.
The problem is, however, is that Labour are conflicted in this matter. The more people help themselves, and the less they remain dependent, the less likely they are to vote Labour.
Given that 52% of benefit payments are for superannuation we have a massive problem with people over 65 not willing to look for a job. Although the only way to get them off their benefit is for them to die. So that leads to a question of what incentives we need to provide them with?
It is a benefit. It is by definition an entitlement that they are lawfully allowed. You're right in the increase in numbers as a lot of people I've talked to just aren't going to be able to make ends meet without working longer. At least they are encouraging their younger coworkers to save for retirement earlier.
I assume that the benefit angle is about those that are on unemployment. We're on 4.4% unemployment which is really low. Often a figure around 5% is considered full employment.
https://tradingeconomics.com/new-zealand/unemployment-rate
Youth unemployment is not that great at 11.1%. No doubt there are many contributing factors of which those over 65 working longer is not helping.
https://tradingeconomics.com/new-zealand/youth-unemployment-rate
I'm not really a fan of attacking people on benefits because so many people in New Zealand are on benefits including WFF. Also many of the problems we're experiencing are caused by external problems of which the Federal Reserve is a significant contributor.
It is a non means tested benefit. Just because you are pulling it and want to discriminate against beneficiaries as well ideologically does not change the fact. It is worse if you personally enjoy discrimination against the disabled and terminally ill. Because of all the benefits those people actually deserve it and literally would be physically prevented from working than many older than 65.
Not a lot of jobs and retraining available for the over 65 pensioners already unable to work, disabled and terminally ill or mothers with dependant babies. Could be that discrimination is alive and well or it could be they are literally physically unable to work. Tell you what, you employ a 65+ terminal cancer patient and tell me how that goes.
New Zealand grocery shoppers are the most promotion-driven in the world. Almost $6 in every $10 spent on groceries in 2017 were sold on promotion—well ahead of other developed markets around the globe.
This is actually quite frightening depending on how you interpret is. What it potentially means is the following:
-- FMCG manufacturers cannot survive in NZ without discounting their products (suggests that the high-cost structure is floundering)
-- Shoppers are actually relying on price discounting to fill their shopper baskets
http://www.nielsen.com/nz/en/insights/news/2018/the-470m-opportunity-ch…
I agree.
For decades the importers/wholesalers dictated the retail prices as our economy / market was too small to be competitive. Then add in Kiwi's are paid fairly low by OECD standards. So we got taken advantage of and could ill-afford it. Then since 2008 throw in a recession that has not cleared and growing in-equality and then throw in huge house housing debt. Result you have too many ppl who are struggling to make ends meet.
Hence why we are "well ahead" IMHO.
I think a new reality is dawning in retail, the days of pricing a product at what the market will stand is still here but the ceiling is dropping if you want to keep sales volumes up. A bit ad hoc but I have noticed I really need to keep an eye on expiry dates of products, so produce is sitting on shelves too long?
This then has knock on effects. If retail cant sustain high prices how can they continue to pay high rents? (apparently our commercial rents per sqM is very high) I am seeing empty shops in malls, something I rarely recall seeing, Could commercial property become a blood bath?
Personally I am buying more and more via the Internet. It is substantially cheaper even with shipping and adding 15% GST to it isnt going to matter when the savings are so big, or when no NZ retailer stocks my size its do without, or pay a huge premium for a special order or get off Amazon/China.
May you live in interesting times as the curse goes.
The UK has a problem
Glad to see other people are onto it. This is disgusting. The UK establishment are whitewashing the problem of hundreds of Pakistani men raping thousands kids simply because they're of a certain background. Just search the Rotherham scandal. Yet when one man named Jimmy Savile committed the same crimes it's all over the news. BBC, the police and the courts have been hiding the truth for years.
When Tommy simply reports the facts it's "hate speech". He is sent to a Kangaroo court and the media are gagged from reporting anything about it. UK prisons are full of the kind of people that hate Tommy. I'd be surprised if he makes it out alive.
The UK is not a western nation anymore as far as I'm concerned.
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