Business As Usual For The Reserve Bank

“Today’s Monetary Policy Statement by the Governor of the Reserve Bank holds few surprises”, said Simon Carlaw Chief Executive of the New Zealand Manufacturers Federation. Mr Carlaw was commenting on the latest Monetary Policy Statement which sees the OCR move to 5.75 percent.

“This is perhaps a pity as the Bank’s position seems to have changed little over the past three months despite the signing of a new Policy Targets

Agreement with the Minister of Finance. The Bank is still looking to respond to short-term economic changes such as an increase in commodity prices rather than taking a longer term approach to the economy.

“The Reserve Bank still believes the new rate stimulatory but this view flies in the face of declining business confidence in the manufacturing sector. The Bank is also expecting import growth to decline sharply, but there is little evidence of this yet with tariff cuts expected on 1 July and ongoing strong growth in imports from China.

“Perhaps most significantly the Reserve Bank does not appear to have built into its forecasts the impact of some new Government policies on business confidence and investment intentions.”

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