The Reserve Bank of New Zealand decision to leave the OCR unchanged was expected

Response to Monetary Policy Statement via Westpac (i brief, bolding mine):

The key policy guidance paragraph today was:

• "Monetary policy will remain accommodative for a considerable period. Numerous uncertainties remain and policy may need to adjust accordingly."
• This is exactly the same as November's guidance paragraph.

The OCR forecast was unchanged

NZD exchange rate narrative was changed in a negative-NZD direction, having been softened in September and November, although we'd characterise the fx warning as pretty mild compared to past warnings

The change was expected, given the NZD TWI was 2% above the RBNZ's previous forecast.

Overall, we'd characterise this as a largely unchanged update from the RBNZ, although perhaps less hawkish in the detail than we would have expected

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earlier posts:

• RBNZ Spencer says not concerned about the NZD, comfortable where it is

• RBNZ keeps OCR rate unchanged at 1.75%

• RBNZ's Spencer says no reason to change forecasts after equity volatility

• RBNZ Spencer not actively monitoring cryptocurrency markets