Sharon Zollner, chief economist at ANZ New Zealand, says the Reserve Bank (RBNZ) may lift the Official Cash Rate (OCR) to 6% at its next meetings in February and April. Strong net migration, recovering commodity prices, and a decline in wholesale interest rates were also reasons the central bank might want to lift interest rates further. That November update signalled the RBNZ’s Monetary Policy Committee would likely hike interest rates again if there was any delay to inflation being back in the target band. Kelly Eckhold, chief economist at Westpac NZ, said he thought market predictions of another rate hike were "overdone". Zollner acknowledged she had “flip-flopped” on her previous forecast and that restarting interest rate hikes would be distressing for many households and businesses.
