Economic Weekly: Going out with a bang

The final working week of 2016 could be a big one, with a raft of New Zealand data on the slate, which could see a whippy week for the NZD.  Some of the data were due to be released in the week just gone, but were delayed due to the recent earthquake, which impacted Stats NZ’s ability to collate and release the data.

The main event arrives on Thursday, with Q3 GDP data (delayed from the 15th). Our pick is for expansion of 0.8% qoq, in line with market expectations, pushing annual growth to a robust 3.5%.  The service sector is expected to be responsible for much of the expansion, although retail spending and construction remain the backbone of domestic economic growth.  There are risks on both sides of the outlook, but on balance, these lie largely to the upside.