NZ Tsy Doesn't See Need For Monetary Financing, Trans-Tasman Travel Bubble On The Horizon

NZD/USD went offered in early Asia-Pac trade, having a look under last week's worst levels as focus turned the the risk events from over the weekend. The rate failed to come into contact with the nearby 100-DMA and has recovered since. It last operates at $0.7160, just shy of neutral levels, outperforming its peers from the commodity-tied space.

• NZ Sec to the Tsy McLiesh told interest.co.nz that "it is not an appropriate time to be setting new debt targets," but "it would be appropriate to revisit the question of debt targets once the economy stabilises; once we're certain we're closer to full employment levels." McLiesh pushed back against the idea that the RBNZ could deploy monetary financing.
• New Zealand's Westpac Consumer Confidence moderated to 105.2 in Q1 from 106.0 registered in the previous quarter. Westpac noted that "many households are still concerned about the economic backdrop," especially that the "latest survey actually took place early in March, when Covid-related restrictions on activity had been dialled up again."
• The AFR reported that Australia & New Zealand could launch a two-way quarantine-free travel corridor within weeks. The newspaper cited Australian Trade & Trourism Min Tehan as noting that the decision is now in the hands of NZ PM Ardern.
• A clean break below the 100-DMA at $0.7120 would shift focus to $0.7100, which cushioned losses on Mar 5. On the flip side, a rebound above Mar 18 high of $0.7269 would bring Mar 2 high of $0.7307 into play.
• New Zealand's credit card spending comes out on Tuesday, while trade balance hits the wires on Wednesday.