Westpac’s economics team now believes the Reserve Bank of New Zealand will need to lift the Official Cash Rate (OCR) to as high as 6% – a new high projection among big bank economists. Advertisement“Higher interest rates along with rising living costs will drain a large amount of cash out of households’ wallets. “Now nearly two-thirds of New Zealanders who are paying off their home, 63.3%, say they are ‘worried about interest rates at the moment’ – up from a low of only 21.6% in March 2021″. “This is an increase of over 40% points in a year-and-a-half – and the RBNZ has raised interest rates even further since the end of last year”. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has lifted rates more aggressively than nearly every other central bank.

Source: The Guardian May 17, 2023 12:03 UTC