Sept 21 (Reuters) – New Zealand’s central bank dampened expectations of a big interest rate hike when it meets next month, with comments on Tuesday that indicated it may take a more cautious approach.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Assistant Governor Christian Hawkesby said in a speech that amid uncertainty, when the risks are evenly balanced, “central banks globally tend to follow a smoothed path and keep their policy rate unchanged or move in 25 basis point increments.”
The New Zealand dollar last traded 0.2% weaker at $0.7015, having touched a three-week low of $0.7000 earlier in the session in response to the RBNZ comments. One-year swap rates dropped to 1.07% from 1.15%.
The RBNZ is meeting on Oct. 6 to review its monetary policy settings. The bank held off raising the official cash rate (OCR) in August, despite inflationary pressures rising, after a new outbreak of the Delta variant of the coronavirus. read more
“The RBNZ stressed today…
