Reserve Bank delivers cash rate call

Reserve Bank delivers cash rate call
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) has this morning left the official cash rate unchanged at 1.75%. 

Governor Graeme Wheeler said in a statement, "House price inflation has moderated further, especially in Auckland. The slowing in house price inflation partly reflects loan-to-value ratio restrictions and tighter lending conditions. This moderation is projected to continue, although there is a risk of resurgence given the continuing imbalance between supply and demand.

"Monetary policy will remain accommodative for a considerable period. Numerous uncertainties remain and policy may need to adjust accordingly."

Canstar general manager Jose George said it is an uncertain environment for home owners and warned on the increasing pressure for mortgage holders.

"As recent statistics show, while house prices have started cooling in  Auckland and other larger cities, mortgage rates are starting to trend upwards," said George.
 
“Independent of OCR, the costs of servicing a mortgage are rising. Couple this with rising inflation and the flow-on effect this could have on other living costs, you have a situation where an already stretched household budget will not be able to take the added pressure for most NZers. 
 
“For savers the situation is more positive.  Despite a series of drops in OCR, term deposit rates have remained largely untouched over the last 12 months or so. We are now starting to see increases in deposit rates, reinforcing the belief that banks are keen to grow their existing domestic deposit book.

The full statement by Reserve Bank Governor Graeme Wheeler is below:
Global economic growth has increased and become more broad-based over recent months. However, major challenges remain with on-going surplus capacity and extensive political uncertainty. 

Stronger global demand has helped to raise commodity prices over the past year, which has led to some increase in headline inflation across New Zealand’s trading partners. However, the level of core inflation has generally remained low. Monetary policy is expected to remain stimulatory in the advanced economies, but less so going forward. 

The trade-weighted exchange rate has fallen by around 5 percent since February, partly in response to global developments and reduced interest rate differentials. This is encouraging and, if sustained, will help to rebalance the growth outlook towards the tradables sector. 

GDP growth in the second half of 2016 was weaker than expected. Nevertheless, the growth outlook remains positive, supported by on-going accommodative monetary policy, strong population growth, and high levels of household spending and construction activity. 

House price inflation has moderated further, especially in Auckland. The slowing in house price inflation partly reflects loan-to-value ratio restrictions and tighter lending conditions. This moderation is projected to continue, although there is a risk of resurgence given the continuing imbalance between supply and demand. 

The increase in headline inflation in the March quarter was mainly due to higher tradables inflation, particularly petrol and food prices. These effects are temporary and may lead to some variability in headline inflation over the year ahead. Non-tradables and wage inflation remain moderate but are expected to increase gradually. This will bring future headline inflation to the midpoint of the target band over the medium term. Longer-term inflation expectations remain well-anchored at around 2 percent. 

Developments since the February Monetary Policy Statement on balance are considered to be neutral for the stance of monetary policy. 

Monetary policy will remain accommodative for a considerable period. Numerous uncertainties remain and policy may need to adjust accordingly.