Tamaiti Williams reacts after South Africa defeated the All Blacks in the 2023 Rugby World Cup Final. Photo: AFP / MIGUEL MEDINA
Business confidence bounced back last month.
The ANZ Business Confidence Index rose 21 points to a positive 23 in October, with the outlook for firms' own activity up 12 points, also to positive 23.
Activity indicators jumped in the first half of the month and then jumped again in the second half following the All Blacks' successful progression to the World Cup final and the election.
However, ANZ said the Reserve Bank will be looking to see more progress on inflation as expectations remained high, outside of the agricultural sector.
"Before we judge the importance for the economic outlook, particularly given the noise of the election, we'll see whether the newfound (relative) optimism persists over the next few months. Especially since the All Blacks lost the final," the bank said in a statement.
"It's still a very long way back to the inflation target, and we continue to expect it'll take at least one more official cash rate hike to get us there."
Annual inflation expectations remained fixed at 4.94 percent, which was unchanged from September, while the agricultural sector's expectation was for annual inflation of 5.4 percent.
The Reserve Bank is aiming to bring inflation back to the 2 percent midpoint of its inflation target.