New Zealand Deputy PM and Finance Minister Robertson's comments crossing the news wires.

  • Monetary and fiscal policies need to be coordinated, to work together
  • As interest rates rise they'll restrict demand
  • A recession is not needed for New Zealand
  • Not concerned on the long-term outlook for the New Zealand dollar

Robertson's remarks come following yesterday's rate hike from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. The RBNZ 50bp hike exceeded the 25bp rate hike from Australia just the previous day. The smaller RBA hike sparked some chatter that central banks would begin to dial back aggressive hikes soon. The RBNZ follow up poured cold water on that idea (along with strong US data again on Wednesday, amongst other factors such as continued aggressive promises from Federal Reserve officials).

NZD/USD has been heading higher, AUD/USD also.

New Zealand Finance Minister Grant Robertson