RBNZ: OCR will remain low for a long period of time - Westpac

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand repeated its message that the Official Cash Rate (OCR) will remain low for a long period of time, and that the next move could be up or down, notes the research team at Westpac.

Key Quotes

“The RBNZ has now accepted that economic growth is falling short of its bullish forecasts.”

“Consequently, they have pushed out the expected date for OCR hikes.”

“The intensity of the RBNZ’s reaction today to the slowdown in growth surprised us and financial markets.”

“We now see a risk that the OCR starts rising even later than our long-held forecast of late 2019.”