According to the government's half-yearly budget forecasts released earlier in the week, 2015 will be characterised by high unemployment, less spending and lower GDP growth.
That all points to one thing: lower interest rates for longer.
However whilst term deposits and savings accounts will continue to offer poor returns, low interest rates will benefit some of biggest and best dividend stocks.
Here are three of the best S&P/ASX200 (INDEX: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) stocks which are set to benefit:
1. Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) is a renowned dividend stock, currently offering a fully franked yield of 5.2%. Telstra generates huge profit margins and cash flows which ultimately enables it to take on large amounts of debt and pay a consistent return to shareholders. It is also investing heavily in Asia, upgrading its already superior mobile networks and has a focus on booming technologies like cloud computing and unified communications.
2. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) is another Aussie heavyweight looking to Asia for growth opportunities. In FY14 it derived 24% of revenues from foreign markets. Whilst ANZ shares are slightly higher than fair value in my opinion, its 5.8% fully franked dividend will provide a buffer on its market price in 2015.
3. Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) is more cyclical than the two aforementioned companies because around 37% of its revenue is derived from capital markets facing businesses. However its exposure to booming Asian and US markets bodes well for shareholders in 2015. So too does its forecast 5.4% partially franked dividend!
