Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: Reserve Bank of New Zealand

4 August 2025 – How businesses set prices for their goods and services is a key driver of inflation and how long it will last into the future.

To better understand the price-setting behaviour of firms, new research by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand looked at how well two kinds of measures of price-setting behaviour – from surveys and from models based on recent data – help explain actual inflation.

“When explaining and forecasting domestic or non-tradables inflation, modelled measures of price-setting behaviour perform better than survey-based measures,” the Analytical Note authors Ross Kendall and Marea Sing say.  

Modelled measures that are more sensitive to recent inflation are better for forecasting domestic or non-tradable inflation than those that are not, the research found.

In other words, businesses are more likely to change their prices based on the inflation they experienced recently, rather than the inflation they experienced several years ago. Recent inflation also has more influence on price setting behaviour than expectations of future inflation.

However, the various measures of price-setting behaviour are not significantly different from each other and it is best to consider all measures when explaining and forecasting inflation. This is especially true as price-setting behaviour can change over time.

This research can help the Monetary Policy Committee make judgements about the inflation outlook and where to set the Official Cash Rate.

“These judgements about price-setting behaviour are particularly important following episodes of high or low inflation, as they influence how persistent the effects of these periods will be and how quickly inflation is likely to return to the 2% target midpoint,” the Note says.

Read Analytical Note: https://govt.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=bd316aa7ee4f5679c56377819&id=497e1bed1c&e=f3c68946f8

________________________________

 

Analytical Note key findings

Price-setting behaviour describes how firms dynamically adjust their prices based on past and expected future inflation. Price-setting behaviour plays a key role in the inflation process, in particular, influencing how persistent inflation t

Source: Charles Hyland, Chair, Soil & Health Association of New Zealand
 
Aotearoa New Zealand – Consumers have just lost a fundamental right to informed choice about the food they're eating, says the Soil & Health Association.
 
New Zealand Food Safety Minister Andrew Hoggard and his eight Australian state counterparts have approved a decision to allow genetically engineered food ingredients to enter unlabelled into the food chain of both countries.
 
“This is an alarming and unscientific move that removes our right to know what's in our food,” says Charles Hyland, chair of the Soil & Health Association.
 
“New Zealanders want to know what they're eating, and be able to avoid things they don't want.”
 
“Allowing unlabelled GE ingredients that have no novel DNA ignores the fact that changes can and do occur as a result of all types of genetic engineering – whether it introduces novel DNA or not.”
 
Gene edited cattle in the USA were heralded as a success and claimed to have no novel DNA. However it was then found that bacterial DNA had been introduced, conferring antibiotic resistance, and the cattle were withdrawn from the market.
 
Similar situations could happen with food that supposedly has no novel DNA.
 
Our knowledge of the risks to health from GE foods is still very limited, and there is very little long-term independent research to draw from.
 
“What happens if there is a health issue from GE food? How could we pinpoint it to that GE food? If it's unlabelled, authorities won't be able to trace it or issue a food recall.”
 
The onus will now be on consumers to ask retailers and food companies whether there are any GE ingredients in their food.
 
“The best ways to avoid GE food ingredients are to eat organic food, grow your own, favour whole foods and avoid ultra-processed foods.”
 
FURTHER INFORMATION: Soil & Health's submission to Food Standards Australia New Zealand, 10 September 2024

Source: Zero Waste Network

The Zero Waste Network is expanding to become Zero Waste Aotearoa so we can better achieve our goal of building a waste free future together. 

Our updated name reflects the evolving scope of our work. We've gone from being a small group of committed people twenty years ago, to a nationwide network of 130+ member organisations employing thousands, to today when we are increasing our own business and project capability and advancing high-level advocacy work locally, nationally and internationally. 

“We are acutely aware that Aotearoa NZ is falling behind other similar countries in dealing with our waste. It's time to catch up. Across the globe, innovative waste reduction solutions are being put in place that are having immediate, dramatic and beneficial impacts on large waste streams. Our organisation will be creating and pushing for the kind of solutions that are wanted and needed,” said General Manager Dorte Wray. 

“Globally, there is a strong movement among business, industry and government towards circular economic models that design out waste and pollution and keep valuable resources in use. Zero waste models offer significant community economic benefits, climate solutions and environmental protections.”

“One small example of the kind of solutions we want is the container return scheme. In Tasmania, 20 million containers have been returned just three months after it launched – that's an average of 220,000 containers every day as the community gets behind the initiative.”

“We believe that there is a fantastic opportunity to become a zero waste nation with the right leadership in place to drive the necessary change. We must have the right settings to achieve the outcomes we want. We have a whole world of good examples and ideas to draw upon, alongside brilliant indigenous solutions that are specific and appropriate for this land.”

“Our member organisations are delivering amazing benefits in communities up and down the country every day from Kaitaia to Invercargill. We are building community resilience, economic opportunities, dignified employment and environmental care. We can have a zero waste Aotearoa with beneficial outcomes for all.”

Join us for our annual hui in Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland where we will celebrate 25 years of building a waste free future together. Tickets are still available for a fantastic three-day event, visit https://hui.zerowaste.co.nz/ for further information.