No OCR increase expected this week
A Good Returns survey of 12 economists found all are expecting Bollard to hold his official cash rate (OCR) steady at 3%.
"Recent developments mean the Reserve Bank will err on the side of caution and hold off raising the OCR," says Christine Leung, an economist at ASB Bank.
Domestic growth has been below the central bank's expectations and the growth outlook for the US and China is increasingly uncertain," Leung says.
Craig Ebert, an economist at Bank of New Zealand, says recent statements from Bollard have been "almost finding excuses" not to raise the OCR. "The earthquake simply reinforces the caution for the near term."
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