RBNZ Leave OCR Unchanged at 2.50%
15 September 2011
• RBNZ says rates need to rise if global economic impact is mild on the NZ economy
• Rates on hold for now given global risks
• RBNZ says high NZ dollar a drag on economy
• Domestic economic activity has surprised on the upside and capacity usage appears to have increased
• However, the outlook for New Zealand's trading partners has deteriorated markedly
• Sovereign debt concerns in Europe and the weakened global outlook have caused international bank funding markets to tighten
• Much of the current spike in inflation has been driven by last year's increase in the rate of GST, and will therefore be temporary