New Zealand [B]Producer Input Prices[/B] tumbled -2.5% in the first quarter, the most since records began in 1976, as falling commodity prices drove down production costs. [B]Output prices[/B], the costs paid to manufacturers by re-sellers of finished goods, also fell by a record -1.4%. The metrics came in substantially below economists’ expectations: forecasts had called for input prices to remain unchanged and for output prices to gain 0.5%. The data suggests continued downward pressure on consumer prices, the headline inflation gauge, as a slimmer manufacturing bill translates into lower final price tags. Easing inflation will give the Reserve Bank of New Zealand substantial room to follow through on recent statements arguing that it is “appropriate to provide further policy stimulus to the economy [and keep interest rates] at or below the current level through until the latter part of 2010.”