Greg Smith

I thought the other interesting point on the same day was if you look at the actual...

reality for households.

So we know where the CPI is at, but Stats New Zealand released the household living cost price indices, and they showed the cost of living is up just 2.1% in the year to March.

That's obviously well below CPI.

Now, the difference is measurement.

So these indices include interest payments like mortgages and credit cards, while the CPI captures things like costs of building a new home.

And basically, the reality is that

interest costs have been falling up until recently.

So they're down nearly 20% over the past year.

So that's pulled down the cost of living measure.

Now, the reality is that this could and appears to be reversing.

Mortgage rates are urging higher.

We had two more banks lift rates yesterday.

And then, meanwhile, we've got plenty of pressure points, haven't we?

Petrol, power and health care are all rising sharply.

And that's

Certainly impacting lower-income households a bit harder than others.

So, yeah, certainly tension there, Mike.

A lot depends, I'm assuming, where the war goes and how long it takes before that ends.

But, yeah, for now, they see inflation as temporary at the RB, does Anna Brayman, and some steady cost of living pressures.