The surge in investment is well reflected in new bank lending for investment purposes, which rose by 154 percent in the first half of this year. Our labour market has been improving in line with the improved investor confidence, though unfortunately we do not have any recent official numbers from the Bureau of Statistics.
As expected, recent economic data indicate a deceleration in the pace of economic growth in the past few months, following the strong growth rate in the first quarter. Continued moderate expansion is expected in the period ahead. However, uncertainty is particularly high. For monetary policy, it is essential that recent price developments do not give rise to broad-based inflationary pressures.