From Westpac Chief Economist in New Zealand, Dominick Stephens:
- Forecast for no OCR cut from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand in 2015, as he has previously said
- Says a June cut is unlikely
- If there is going to be a cut this year then around September or October is more realistic
- Puts the chances around 50:50
"We do feel strongly that the next move in the OCR will be down. New Zealand will enter an economic downturn as the Canterbury rebuild unwinds before inflation rises high enough to require OCR hikes. However, the cuts we envisage will occur late in the decade, not this year"