RBNZ Bulletin: Neutral interest rate has continued to decline

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) is out with its latest economic bulletin, highlighting the following:

The current economic expansion since 2009 has unique characteristics

In part been shaped by the Canterbury rebuild

The rebuild itself has been less inflationary than the reserve bank initially feared

This current expansion also includes the largest net immigration cycle (as a share of working age population) since at least the late 1970s, but the consequences for inflationary pressure appear more muted than in the past.

Productivity growth has been weak

Continued decline in the estimated neutral interest rate since the global financial crisis