Search results: David Cunningham

12 August 2024

Opinion: Flippity-flop—The RBNZ’s upcoming OCR review, and a case for changes to the way OCR decisions are made

The RBNZ's outlook on interest rates has chopped and changed pretty dramatically in recent months. Ahead of this week's OCR announcement, on August 14th, David Cunningham looks at what's behind this flip-flopping, and how it might be mitigated in future.

31 July 2024

Squirrel welcomes changes to New Zealand’s Responsible Lending Code

Government has today pushed through changes to the Responsible Lending Code to unwind problematic CCCFA laws—introduced in 2021—which made it much harder to Kiwi to get a loan. Here's our take on the changes.

23 May 2024

Why the Reserve Bank's inflation forecast could spell trouble for NZ's economy

Despite plenty of economic data showing enough damage has been done, the RBNZ is adamant rate falls won't be on the cards until 2025. And the reason for that, it turns out, is all down to a single number in the RBNZ's latest inflation forecast.

03 May 2024

Opinion: The RBNZ needs to start cutting interest rates, ASAP

Most commentators are picking it'll be late 2024 (or worse, 2025) before interest rates start falling again — but the Chief, David Cunningham, reckons there's a strong case for the RBNZ to begin dropping rates much sooner.

18 April 2024

Opinion: Inflation falls to 4%...or does it?

According to bank economists, NZ’s latest inflation stats make it clear it’s far too soon think about dropping interest rates. But the Chief, David Cunningham, reckons the official numbers don’t paint an accurate picture of the situation.

11 April 2024

Ranking New Zealand's best and worst savings accounts

Not all savings accounts are created equal, and it's worth knowing what all your options are so you can get set up with the one that best suits your savings goals. Here, we've pulled together a wrap-up of the different savings accounts available across New Zealand's main retail banks.

19 March 2024

A submission to the Reserve Bank on proposed DTI limits

The Reserve Bank recently asked for feedback on a new set of lending restrictions - DTIs - it's looking to introduce later this year. Here's what the team at Squirrel had to say as part of our submission.

05 February 2024

Why interest rates could be likely to tumble

With NZ's latest inflation numbers out in late January, it looks like we're finally winning the battle — and we could see annual inflation come down relatively quickly in the coming months. So what would that mean for interest rates?

25 October 2023

The bank profit bonanza during our cost-of-living crisis

Despite the Reserve Bank holding off on increasing the Official Cash Rate, ANZ has just announced it’s lifting its home loan interest rates across the board by between 0.10% and 0.26%. So why have they increased their rates, and is the move justified?

19 October 2023

Why do banks keep doing this to savers?

Heartland Bank has launched a brand-spanking new savings product — the Digital Saver account. And with a 5.00%p.a. interest rate, it sounds pretty good. But there’s something kind of weird about Heartland launching this new account — so what's the deal, and is there a catch?

27 September 2023

Market update: Is NZ staring down the barrel of a major house price comeback?

New Zealand has narrowly escaped the technical recession that was called a few months back — but Kiwi households are still feeling the pressure from high interest rates. So with an Official Cash Rate (OCR) announcement on the cards for 4th October, what’s likely to happen with mortgage rates from here?

06 September 2023

New Zealand banks need to do right by their customers, and it starts with dropping mortgage rates

New Zealand is deep in a cost-of-living crisis, and those with mortgages are struggling. And yet amidst all of this, New Zealand banks are thriving – bringing in record profits. So, what’s the driver behind what the banks are doing with home loan rates?

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