Basic information: J6 Survey of Expectations

The Data: Coverage, Periodicity, and Timeliness

Coverage characteristics

This survey is conducted in the middle of the reference month by ACNeilson for the RBNZ.

The data includes perceptions and expectations on Monetary Conditions, Consumer Price Index, Interest Rates, Exchange Rates, Gross Domestic Product, Balance of Payments, Hourly Earnings and Unemployment Rate. Apart from the monetary conditions questions, the survey asks respondents to provide quantitative expectations for these variables.

Data is only released for the quarter of the survey.

The survey results are published on the RBNZ website as the “Survey of Expectations”. The results, including tabular breakdown of the results, are mailed to all respondents.

Periodicity

Quarterly

Timeliness

Data is released in the third or fourth week of the second month of the quarter.

Access by the public

Advance release calendar

The “Advance Release Calendar” is updated and released each Friday on the website. This is a long-term plan of scheduled releases.

Integrity

Dissemination of terms and conditions under which official statistics are produced, including confidentiality of individual responses

The results of the survey represent expectations held by the respondents and in no way represent the views or forecasts of the Reserve Bank. To preserve anonymity, each respondent is assigned a unique numeric code by ACNielsen. The Reserve Bank has no information linking codes to respondent names.

Provision of information about revisions and advance notice of major changes in methodology

The survey does not get revised. Respondents are notified of changes to the survey questionnaire, prior to them participating in the current survey. For example, this may include an explanation of a new or replacement variable for which the respondent’s expectation is being sought.

Quality

Dissemination of documentation on methodology and sources used in preparing statistics

The response rate for the quarter and distribution across activity groups of those questionnaires completed is noted in the Survey Results.

Refer to the Survey Results for details of the questions asked in the survey.

Dissemination of statistics that support statistical cross-checks and provide assurance of reasonableness

The survey results are published on the Reserve Bank’s website, and delivered to respondents.