Lowe to go higher with another rate rise

<p>Kia ora,</p><p>Welcome to Tuesday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.</p><p>I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz.</p><p>And today we lead with news all eyes today are on the signals to be sent by the Reserve Bank of Australia. Inflation seems to be easing there but the central bank is widely expected to keep its foot firmly on the throat of inflation with another rate rise.</p><p>But first, American <a href="https://www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/prel/pdf/s-i-o.pdf" target="_blank"><strong>factory orders fell</strong></a> in January, mainly because of weak aircraft orders. This was as expected. But without that category, they rose and by a bit more than the advance reports suggested.</p><p>In Canada, <a href="https://iveypmi.uwo.ca/" target="_blank"><strong>the Ivey PMI series</strong></a> which is the most widely-watched set there fell back to only a modest expansion in February and this was not expected. It is a far steeper drop than anyone saw coming.</p><p>South Korea is making progress on the inflation front - probably at the cost of growth. Their <a href="https://kostat.go.kr/board.es?mid=a20101000000&bid=11751&list_no=424055&act=view&mainXml=Y" target="_blank"><strong>February CPI rate</strong></a> fell below an annualised 4% rate and the year on year rate slipped to 4.8%. We get their Q4 GDP growth data later today.</p><p>China has released its <a href="http://www.mof.gov.cn/zhengwuxinxi/caizhengxinwen/202303/t20230306_3870852.htm" target="_blank"><strong>budget</strong></a> and most of the focus has been on the big increase in defense spending. But it also raises its spending to increase its grain reserves in a clear self-sufficiency push amid ongoing concerns over food security.</p><p>China is also quickly expanding is 5G base station network. It currently has 2.3 mln in place and will <a href="https://www.caixinglobal.com/2023-03-06/china-to-build-600000-5g-base-stations-in-2023-102005205.html" targe