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Old Mortgage News

OCR held as Canterbury quake takes toll

Thursday 16th of September 2010

"The earthquake that struck Canterbury on 4th September has significantly disrupted economic activity and is likely to do so for some time yet," Bollard said in a statement in Wellington today.

"The pace and extent of further OCR increases is likely to be more moderate than was projected in the June statement."

Bollard reined in the expected track of rate hikes to a slower pace than in his March and June policy statements, shaving more than a percentage point from the 90 day bank bill forecast in the second half of 2011 onwards.

Manufacturing and business confidence have been shrinking in recent months, and tepid housing and consumer spending data have kept economists downbeat about the prospects for New Zealand's economy. Retail sales unexpectedly shrank in July, while home sales have fallen to the same level in the depths of the global financial crisis.

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