Data fog leaves NZ central bank flying blind

System upgrade: The Reserve Bank of New Zealand in central Wellington. Kiwi statisticians are struggling to keep up with a rapidly changing economy, and nowhere more so than with inflation. — Reuters

WELLINGTON: Lags in New Zealand’s official economic data are creating a fog for policymakers that recently forced them to veer off course and cut interest rates a whole year earlier than projected, badly wrong footing financial markets.

Years of tight funding by successive governments have left statisticians struggling to keep up with a rapidly changing economy, and nowhere more so than with inflation.