Has the fear of inflation vanished?

<p>Kia ora,</p><p>Welcome to Monday's Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect New Zealand.</p><p>I'm David Chaston and this is the International edition from Interest.co.nz.</p><p>Today we lead with news policy makers no longer seem to fear inflation even as the global economy gears up post-pandemic and commodity shortages loom.</p><p>In China, <a href="https://d321bl9io865gk.cloudfront.net/view?src=https%3A%2F%2Fanz-singletrack.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com%2FAsia_Macro_Weekly_China_credit_curtail_but_still_supportive_of_economy.pdf%3FX-Amz-Algorithm%3DAWS4-HMAC-SHA256%26X-Amz-Credential%3DAKIAZGZPZQBPX2SV22UN%2F20210320%2Fap-southeast-2%2Fs3%2Faws4_request%26X-Amz-Date%3D20210320T000000Z%26X-Amz-Expires%3D86400%26X-Amz-Signature%3Db5e63882676d6f83c2066be856b394503b6821571eb6dd0be896704d7f8284e5%26X-Amz-SignedHeaders%3Dhost&data=TkRK3bFnz1DmVt0pTVQvhaJuWTarWpZ0u9QOiLlJ17ZIiOmRsg2plhk78cPbtyFlNL9fdyC8DuVkmtbBVdX%2BSoAoLFanu4dYH6MQZPAF4Z7aMlDqoPlpCSw2tZjGu4UG&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fpublications.anz.com%2F&namespaced=true&aid=a0N4a000001PuSMEA0&perms=copy-paste;download;print;rate;related-research&perms_sign=tLCaTT9XZN9KFWb5JvrMX2fHhHoSXnH0uAVtiML8S6jdLDzaxWYq2L6VS30HFsR5oxe6dwGZ297UyrUrnYKByqsRW1DDWdw3aakaQ%2Fq3dOhss6ElVNXM5Z0bcYSgt4%2FJ4LJVwUNf3zhSHvr%2Fxc6oWkd%2BOqJCOpmJwL5ZmJeWRuM%3D&timestamp=1616279490&rating_opts=%7b%22ratingValue%22:%220%22,%22ratingType%22:%22star%22%7d" target="_blank"><strong>ANZ analysts are pointing out</strong></a> that as much as 40% of the total 'social financing' that supports the expansion of their real economy was in fact borrowers needing more to make interest payments. Given that total social financing rose +13% in 2020 and is slated to rise even further in 2021, their debt-based financing has reached a tricky spot for public policymakers. They can't restrain this 'growth' without undermining loan quality and therefore bank balance sheets and putting their banking sector at risk. They are seeing plenty of room to let this rise by <a href="http