Reserve Bank of New Zealand announcement is due at 2pm New Zealand time
- 0200 GMT
- 10 pm US Eastern time
Earlier:
Snippet preview remarks from
Westpac:
- RBNZ to lift the Official Cash Rate by 25 basis points to 5.00%
- This is also the consensus forecast, while market pricing is slightly above +25bp
- Monetary policy has now moved into what the RBNZ considers to be ‘contractionary’ territory. But given the scale of the challenge, it will still be a long and uncomfortable wait until we see inflation back in the target range. And the anticipated slowing of the economy in response to higher interest rates lies largely in the realm of the forecasts; the actual data has stayed fairly robust so far. For these reasons, the RBNZ is likely to continue to emphasise the potential for further rate hikes.
BNZ:
- Expect a 25bp hike in the OCR and maintaining a hawkish tilt in its commentary and minutes
- Anything other than a 25bps would shock the market. With no new forecasts the Bank can afford to keep its options open about the future, but a bias to tighten further will likely remain.
