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Mike Jones: BNZ Chief Economist on food costs reaching 4.5%, Treasury's worst case scenario for inflation
BNZ’s chief economist Mike Jones says Treasury’s previous worst-case inflation forecast for this year of 3.7% is probably too conservative.
Annual food costs climbed 4.5% in the year to February but Jones told Ryan Bridge BNZ's 2.9% consumer price index forecast for the first quarter hadn’t changed.
“It's the second quarter that's really going to bear the brunt of the spike in petrol prices that we are seeing. So we've got a 3.8% forecast for Q2 and inflation stays above 3% now for the rest of the year on our numbers.”
Finance Minister Nicola Willis on Monday said Treasury had given her a…
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