RBNZ Yuong Ha: Reaffirms guidance set in March on holding OCR unchanged until March next year

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand's chief economist Yuong Ha has crossed the wires, reaffirming guidance set in March on holding the OCR unchanged until March next year.

Key comments

• Says there is a big hole in economic activity and it will take time to fill it.
• Says some sectors are recovering quite well.

NZD/USD outlook

it was another quiet session overnight for the Kiwi as it navigates reasonably tight ranges again.

Analysts at ANZ Bank explained that the overnight rally in US equities lacked conviction, and its faltering a bit early this morning, which hasn’t really helped the Kiwi:

Hard to see any major moves ahead of key US jobs data on Thursday night, but longer term we remain of the view that the RBNZ’s dovish tone and reiteration that foreign asset purchases remain a policy option has not been sufficiently priced in. The August MPS is shaping up to be a bit of a doozy. Foreign asset purchases make sense given the small size of the NZGB market; a lower NZD would boost the recovery. 

About Yuong Ha

Yuong Ha is Chief Economist and Head of Economics, one of three departments under Economics, Financial Markets and Banking.

Prior to this appointment Yuong was most recently acting head of the Financial Markets Department following a period as Manager for International and Markets and Analysis. Since joining the Reserve Bank in 1997 he has held a number of roles including time in the economics department as Manager of the Modelling team and Manager of the Forecasting team. During that time he has also been seconded to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Statistics New Zealand.