Floating mortgages on hold
Bollard cited the weak household sector with soft consumer spending, house sales falling and flat house prices, the weaker than expected global recovery and the disruption caused by Canterbury's earthquake.
As expected, Bollard left his official cash rate (OCR), which directly affects floating mortgage rates, unchanged at 3%. While he indicated further OCR hikes are likely at some point - he has raised it twice since June from 2.5% - he left the timing open.
Bollard also said the pace and extent of further OCR rises are likely to be more moderate than he was expecting in June.
Nick Tuffley, chief economist at ASB Bank, says the central bank has revised its OCR forecasts down significantly and now expects it to peak at about 4.7% in 2013 compared with 6.1% three months ago.
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