It's encouraging to see an upgrade in the outlook and business investment will be supportive of economic growth.

We suspect that will be the only move this year.

This suggests that approvals are bouncing along the bottom, with virtually no change over the last five months.

The scramble by resource companies to boost capacity to meet world demand and take advantage of record commodity prices is clearly providing a major impetus to State growth.

The weakness in the household sector of the economy has helped to contain core inflation despite rising energy and upstream prices. I think while that situation persists, interest rates will certainly be on hold.

It's significant for the outlook for the economy if housing approvals turn the corner. In the second half of the year, housing will switch from being a drag on the economy to a positive.