The Reserve Bank of New Zealand is on track for a rate hike at their meeting tomorrow.
- 2pm New Zealand time
- which is 0100 GMT
Earlier previews:
- NZDUSD trades to lowest level since mid-November
- RBNZ Shadow Board is overwhelmingly calling for a tightening in monetary policy
- Coming up this week - the RBNZ will hike its cash rate
- RBNZ monetary policy meeting next week - rate hike baked in - preview
- Central bank watch: RBNZ to hike by 50bps?
This now via ASB in Auckland, where, the analyst notes on lockdwon impacts:
- It's literally going to be 3 and a half months between drinks for Auckland hospitality and other businesses that have been feeling prolonged pain.
ASB's preview (in brief):
- For the record, we expect a 25bp increase and some tough talk about rising inflation.
- There is not much in it, but right now doesn't seem the right time for a 50bp increase - despite the inflation signs. They may sound like words from the bowels of an Auckland COVID bunker, and to some extent they are. It's literally going to be 3 and a half months between drinks for Auckland hospitality and other businesses that have been feeling prolonged pain. Although a smaller OCR hike may not in itself make a material financial difference right now relative to a bigger one, this is a time when trying not to further dampen confidence is important.
- Furthermore, we are heading into the unknowns of the Summer of COVID. It will take a little more time to know how well the health system copes and whether some winding back of new-found freedoms is needed - which has happened recently in Europe, for example.
Governor Orr will speak at a news conference following the Statement:
