Here are key things you need to know before you leave work today (or if you work from home, before you shutdown your laptop).

MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
There were no changes today. See all advertised mortgages rates here.

TERM DEPOSIT/SAVINGS RATE CHANGES
Heartland and AMP increased their 12-month rates, both up 10 basis points to 3.50%. See advertised deposit rates for one to nine months here, and rates for one to five years here.

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE DROPS
The latest ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence survey shows a drop to 100.1 in February from 107.2, more than unwinding January’s sharp rise. The proportion of households thinking it’s a good time to buy a major household item fell, and inflation expectations rose 0.1 percentage point to 4.7%. perceptions of current personal financial situations, better or worse off than last year, fell 10 points to -16% from -6%. It remains slightly above its December 2025 level of -18%.

HOUSING LENDING GROWS AT AN ANNUALISED RATE OF 5.8%
The latest Reserve Bank (RBNZ) sector credit lending data shows housing lending rose at an annual growth rate of 5.8% in January, climbing $1.724 billion in January from December, reaching $392.315b. The annual growth rate was slightly higher than December’s 5.7%. Personal consumer lending rose 2.1%, versus 1.9% in December, to $14.634b. Business lending rose 3.4%, down from 4%, to $142.853 billion, and agriculture lending rose 1% versus 0.4%, to $63.348 billion.

RBNZ SEES CHEAPER FUNDING & BORROWING, BUT MORE RISK FROM BANK CAPITAL CHANGES
In a cost-benefit analysis of its softened bank regulatory capital settings announced in December, the RBNZ says they’ll have a positive net benefit for New Zealand of +0.12% of GDP, or about $500m per annum. Additionally it suggests lower funding costs for deposit takers are expected to lower borrowing costs for New Zealanders. The RBNZ expects deposit takers’ funding costs to reduce by 12 basis points (bps), and for lending rates to reduce by between 11 bps and 19bps. On the downside, the RBNZ also expects risks of financial instability to increase, with the expected costs of crises to increase by 0.15% of GDP.
Meanwhile, the RBNZ is reviewing some topics raised in feedback to its latest capital review, including reverse mortgage and commercial property risk weights, and will consult on any changes in the second half of 2026. 

FINANCIAL HARDSHIP HITS KIWISAVERS
The latest Inland Revenue KiwiSaver early withdrawal figures show more than half related to financial hardship. In January, KiwiSaver members made 7570 withdrawals worth almost $173.5m. Of those, 4570 were for financial hardship and 3000 were for first home purchases.

RATES RISE BOOSTS AUCKLAND COUNCIL REVENUE
Financial results from Auckland Council for the six months to December 31, 2025 show a $103 million revenue increase to $5.5 billion, with the key increase being higher rates revenue. This rose by $247 million to $3 billion reflecting the 5.8% annual rates increase for an average-value home. Fees and user charges increased by $48 million to $948 million, attributed to “strong performance” in water services, port operations, and consenting activity. Operating costs were $3.5 billion, slightly higher than in the same period last year, while net debt increased $883 million to $15 billion. The Council’s interim report is here.

NZX50
See our story here for details of what happened on the share market today.

NZD STRONGER AGAINST THE GREENBACK
At the time of writing the NZ dollar is at US59.98 cents, up from US59.7c this morning. It’s at AUD84.13c versus AUD84.2c, flat against the euro at 50.71 euro cents, and at 93.23 Japanese yen.

CBA WORRIED ABOUT FRADULENTLY OBTAINED LOANS
The Australian Financial Review reports Commonwealth Bank of Australia, ASB’s parent, has dobbed itself into the police and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission over concerns that about A$1 billion in home loans could’ve been obtained fraudulently. This follows a CBA review of compliance practices and customer lending documents.

TAKE A BREAK AND DO OUR QUIZ
Our quiz has been updated for this week’s edition. You can do it here. A new one will be added every Monday.

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