The Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) decision to put up its benchmark wholesale interest rate to 5% is not expected to exert immediate pressure on New Zealand's central bank to follow suit.
Thursday, November 6th 2003, 12:45AM
by The Landlord
Economists are still predicting the RBNZ will hold out until next year - possibly even until the third quarter, before it raises its official cash rate (OCR) from 5%.
The OCR is a benchmark for retail banks when setting variable rates for things like floating mortgage rates. Usually the retail banks's rates are 1.5 - 2% more.
