ANZ economists share Reserve Bank of New Zealand Deputy Gov. Geoff Bascand's view that per-capita consumption growth will speed up, but at a historically modest pace. Late Tuesday, he gave a speech in Australia on the "Changing Dynamics in Household Behaviour: What do they mean for inflationary pressures?" Bascand noted that households' apparent lower propensity to tap housing wealth has been a factor damping inflationary pressures in New Zealand--in addition to weak tradables inflation and the stronger-than-expected growth in supply-side capacity.
