New Zealand’s Reserve Bank announced on Wednesday to leave the Official Cash Rate (OCR) unchanged at 5.5 percent, putting an end to the consecutive increases and monetary policy tightening over the past 21 months.
“The level of interest rates are constraining spending and inflation pressure as anticipated and required,” said a statement of the Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee.
The committee agreed that the OCR will need to remain at a restrictive level for the foreseeable future, to ensure that consumer price inflation returns to the 1 percent to 3 percent annual target range, while supporting maximum sustainable employment.—Xinhua
