Inflation is coming dangerously close to the top end of the Reserve Bank’s target band. 

It’s reached 2.7% year-on-year – the main drivers being council rates, increased rents, electricity prices, and food prices. 

Independent economist Cameron Bagrie told Ryan Bridge that there’s not only cyclical damage to the economy from the Reserve Bank’s efforts to curb inflation, but also significant structural issues. 

He says that productivity used to be, on average, 1.4% per year, but it’s now down to 0.3%. 

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