New governor leaves OCR alone

The Reserve Bank today left the Official Cash Rate (OCR) unchanged at 2.50%.

Reserve Bank Governor Graeme Wheeler said: “the global economy remains fragile, with further recovery heavily dependent on policy implementation. That said, market sentiment has improved from earlier in the year, suggesting the risks to the global outlook are more balanced.

“Domestically, GDP continues to expand at a modest pace. Housing market activity is increasing as expected, and repairs and reconstruction in Canterbury are boosting the construction sector. Offsetting this, fiscal consolidation is constraining demand growth, and the high New Zealand dollar is undermining export earnings and encouraging substitution toward imported goods and services.

“While annual CPI inflation has fallen to 0.8 percent, the Bank continues to expect inflation to head back towards the middle of the target range. We will continue to monitor inflation indicators, such as pricing intention and inflation expectation data, closely over coming months.

For now it remains appropriate for the OCR to be held at 2.50%.”