0606 GMT - The New Zealand economy appears to have weathered the conflict in the Middle East fairly well but hasn't emerged totally unscathed, says Westpac chief economist, Kelly Eckhold. Recent labor market data this week confirms significant excess capacity remains which is helping to restrain inflation pressures, he adds. Nevertheless, inflation remains too high, and wage pressures appear sticky, raising questions on how easy it will be to bring inflation back to 2%. Eckhold notes that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand will likely need to do more than it currently suggests to achieve that, an assessment markets seem to share.