NAB Business Confidence Index

Australia

NAB Business Confidence Index (Mar.) - Business confidence probably
remained weak in March, with headline confidence falling back to -25, after
rising 10 points to -22 in February. The sharp rise in February emerged in
the wake of the announcement of the Government’s fiscal stimulus package
and a further cut to the RBA’s cash rate. The RBA, though, left the cash
rate unchanged in March (before cutting it again in April), and there was
more gloomy news on the global economy. Equity markets, though, improved,
which may have supported confidence.

Speech by RBA Head of Financial Stability Dr. Luci Ellis - Dr. Ellis will
speak at the Centre for Strategic Economic Studies’ Emerging From the
Global Storm: Growth and Climate Change Policies in Australia Conference.
The topic of the speech is The Global Financial Crisis: Causes,
Consequences and Countermeasures.

Export and import prices (Q1) - export prices likely dropped owing mainly
to significantly lower spot prices for base metals, in particular. Import
prices probably rose 2.0% owing to the drop in AUD over the second half of
2008.

New Zealand

NZ CPI (%q/q, 1Q) - Inflation should be flat in 1Q, after falling 0.5% in
the final three months of 2008. From a year ago, consumer prices should
grow 2.7%, compared to 3.4% in the prior three months, falling back within
the RBNZ’s 1-3% target range for the first time since 3Q07.

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