AUD/NZD RETREATS FROM 1.0800 AS RBNZ PROPOSES TO EASE QUALITATIVE RESTRICTIONS, AUSSIE CPI EYED

The AUD/NZD pair has sensed selling pressure after a less-confident pullback move to near 1.0800 in the Asian session. The cross is going through an immense sell-off for the past two trading sessions in hopes that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will continue to keep interest rates steady next week.

Investors will get more clarity for the monetary policy action after the release of the Australian Consumer Price Index (CPI) data. According to the estimates, quarterly inflation (Q1) has accelerated by 1.3% at a slower pace than the velocity of 1.9% recorded in the last quarter of CY2022. Annual inflation is expected to soften to 6.9% from the former release of 7.8%.

Apart from that, the monthly inflation indicator (Mar) is expected to decelerate to 6.6% from the prior release of 6.8%. Australia’s monthly CPI has softened significantly from its peak of 8.4%, recorded in December. This allowed the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to pause its rate-hiking spell after pushing interest rates to 3.60%. RBA policymakers are expecting a further slowdown in the Australian economy, which will decelerate stubborn inflation.

On the New Zealand front, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) has proposed to loosen the loan-to-value ratio (LVR) restrictions. RBNZ Deputy Governor and head of financial stability Christian Hawkesby cited on Wednesday, "Our assessment is that the risks to financial stability posed by high-LVR lending have reduced to a level where the current restrictions may be unnecessarily reducing efficiency. In particular, impeding the provision of credit to some otherwise creditworthy borrowers, this is not proportionate to the level of risk that we see.”