Westpac comments on the Reserve Bank of New Zealand decisions today

A very quick response from Imre Speizer at Wpac NZ.

In brief (bolding is mine)

  • The RBNZ's Monetary Policy Statement this morning cut the OCR by 25bp to 2.75% as was widely expected
  • Also signalled the OCR could eventually fall to 2.5%, which many had expected
  • The crucial policy paragraph read: "A reduction in the OCR is warranted by the softening in the economy and the need to keep future average CPI inflation near the 2 percent target midpoint. At this stage, some further easing in the OCR seems likely. This will depend on the emerging flow of economic data."
  • The previous warning about the high NZD exchange rate was repeated, albeit toned down given the large fall since June