Reserve Bank of New Zealand
New Zealand’s Interest Rate Cut Tops Expectations
October 8, 2025
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s decision involved an interest rate change that exceeded analyst expectations. The Official Cash Rate was cut by 50 basis points, twice the street’s forecast. At 2.50%, the new OCR level drops to its lowest since August 2022 and a full three percentage points below the peak of 5.5% maintained […] More
Dollar Revival Extended
October 8, 2025
Driven by sluggish growth and political uncertainties affecting other economies, the dollar climbed overnight by a further 0.6% against the Japanese yen and Korean won, 0.4% relative to the New Zealand dollar, 0.3% vis-a-vis the euro and 0.2% versus the Swiss franc, Turkish lira and British pound. The intra-day high in the weighted DXY dollar […] More
Central Bank Rate Cuts in New Zealand, Indonesia and Uruguay
August 20, 2025
Officials at Bank Indonesia sprung a surprise on market participants at today’s scheduled monetary policy review. No interest rate change had been predicted in light of a higher 2.5% inflation rate last month, but instead the policy rate got cut 25 basis points further to 5.0%. The decision, according to a released statement, “is consistent […] More
Higher Long-Term Interest Rates But Scant Changes So Far Today in Dollar or Equities
May 28, 2025
The 10-year Japanese JGB yield climbed five basis points this Wednesday back to 1.50% despite a warning from Bank of Japan Governor Ueda that volatile long-term rates carry risk. Other 10-year sovereign debt yields have risen by 3 basis points in the U.K., 2 bps in the United States, and a basis point in Germany, […] More
Central Bank Rate Cuts in India and News Zealand
April 9, 2025
Central bank officials in India and New Zealand, in widely expected moves, cut their key interest rates by 25 basis points today. The Reserve Bank of India‘s unanimously decided repo rate reduction to 6.0% followed a similar cut made at the prior February meeting and a two-year period before that with the rate maintained at […] More
Back to Panic Mode as U.S. Reciprocal Tariffs Take Effect and China Strikes Back
April 9, 2025
The U.S. tariff on China is now 104%, and China’s government has answered with an 84% levy on imports of U.S. goods. An editorial in yesterday’s NYT by University of Chicago economics professor Brent Neiman, whose collaborated work with three other economists had been cited by the U.S. Trade Representative office as one basis for […] More
New Zealand Interest Rate Cut
February 19, 2025
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut the Official Cash Rate by 50 basis points as had been expected. This was the third cut of a half percentage point that followed an initial 25-basis point reduction last August. At 3.75%, the new rate level is its lowest since November 2022 and down from 5.50% maintained […] More
Half Percentage Point New Zealand Central Bank Rate Cut
October 9, 2024
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s Official Cash Rate was cut at today’s scheduled Board meeting to 4.75% from 5.25%. A previous 25-basis point initial reduction at the prior policy review in August ended fifteen months of being kept at a peak of 5.5%. Noting in a released statement that economic activity is subdued in […] More
Extreme Stock Market Volatility in China, Central Bank News in New Zealand, India and the U.S., and Historic Storm Front Heading for Florida
October 9, 2024
The Shanghai Composite equity index tumbled 6.6% today, more than reversing yesterday’s 4.6% advance. China’s finance minister reportedly will announce a set of fiscal stimulus measures on October 12, but investors doubt such will amount to what that economy currently needs. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s Official Cash Rate was cut at today’s scheduled […] More
New Zealand’s First Interest Rate Cut of the Cycle
August 14, 2024
There’s been a 25-basis point reduction in the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s official cash rate to 5.25%. Its the first easing of the cycle and was not widely expected by analysts. “Surveyed inflation expectations, firms’ pricing behavior, headline inflation, and a variety of core inflation measures are moving consistent with low and stable inflation,” […] More
