6/22/2023 0 Comments A very slow discovery challenge![]() While widespread mortgage rate fixing insulated many borrowers from the impact of those increases for a short time, Westpac said large numbers of mortgages have now rolled on to higher interest rates. In response to strong inflation pressures, the Reserve Bank has continually hiked the Official Cash Rate. Right now though, Westpac said the major factor that is squeezing households' finances and weighing on economic growth is the large rise in debt servicing costs. Going forward, they expect the rapid economic growth seen in the wake of the COVID-19 lockdowns will now give way to an extended period of subdued growth. "Nevertheless, the slowdown in activity over the past few months does highlight that the ground beneath the economy has become increasingly soggy, with the sharp rise in interest rates over the past year now clearly weighing on demand." In addition, much of the downturn in the March quarter reflects temporary disruptions caused by the recent storms. "The labour market remains strong and businesses are continuing to take on staff. However, we don't think this represents an actual recession in the New Zealand economy," the report said. That might fit the label of a 'technical recession' (that is, two consecutive quarters of falling activity). "We estimate that economic output fell by 0.8 percent over the December and March quarters combined. And on top of that, parts of the economy have been grappling with the aftermath of the devastating storms in January and February. Most significantly, a sharp rise in interest rates combined with large increases in household living costs is restraining domestic demand.Īt the same time, the pace of the rebound in international tourism has slowed after the initial surge in visitors when the borders reopened. Westpac's report found that several of the factors that boosted growth in recent years have now moderated or even reversed. The extra bit of work we think is required is very much in the vein of a stitch in time saves nine." The New Zealand economy "None of this takes away from the point that the interest rate cycle is very mature and the peak in interest rates is near. However, they will also add to demand pressures in the economy and offset some of the impact that rising interest rates are having."Įckhold said it's less likely we'll see New Zealand's economy tip into outright recession, adding the house price cycle looks to have bottomed out sooner than expected. These new entrants will bring valuable skills to a stretched labour market. "Net migration has rebounded faster than expected and population growth is set to rise to its highest level in decades. In a landmark ruling last January, a male couple from Kaohsiung city managed to successfully challenge the ban – when the court ruled that allowing joint adoption was in the best interest of their child.īut the court also dismissed other similar cases and the law that limited their civil liberties remained on the statute books until it was amended Tuesday."Getting inflation back to sustainable levels won't be easy, especially since the economy likely won't slow as much as we feared a few months back," he said. “Today’s success shows that the consensus in Taiwan is to protect the human rights of LGBTI peoples and promote gender equality,” the alliance said in a statement.īefore the legal change Tuesday, some same-sex couples had spent years challenging the discrimination in Taiwanese courts. The Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights, an advocate for LGBT rights on the island, also called the decision a big step toward achieving full marriage equality. “Parental love is the same, and only through joint adoption can we protect the rights and interests of each other by law.” “Legally, we have finally returned same-sex couples to their children,” she added. ![]() “I am very excited that we granted joint adoption rights to same-sex couples today,” said Fan Yun, a lawmaker from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party who was among those that initiated the legal change. Previously, only heterosexual couples and single people were allowed to adopt children to whom they are not biologically related – creating a situation where if same-sex couples wanted to adopt a child, only one of them could register as the child’s legal parent, even if they both shared the burden of raising them. Taiwan in 2019 became the first jurisdiction in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage but it stopped short of granting fully equal rights of adoption to same-sex couples. Taiwan’s legislature passed a bill Tuesday that granted same-sex couples the right to jointly adopt a child neither of them are related to, clearing one of the final hurdles in achieving full marriage equality.
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