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Not quite sure which section to put this under. Mods feel free to move it, if necessary.
04/03/2009
04/03/2009
New Zealand may be soon in the intriguing position of having lower official interest rates than those in Australia.
If that does come to pass - and our rates are likely to dip below those of our Tasman neighbours as soon as next week - then it will be the first time in many many years we have had lower rates, if you exclude very brief periods.
Indeed our rates dropped below those in Australia for a few days earlier this year, but that was essentially just down to the fact that our central bank had its regular review and took up the pruning shears just ahead of a review by its trans-Tasman counterpart.
But now there are signs of a real divergence of approach. The Reserve Bank of Australia very surprisingly chose to leave its rates at 3.25 per cent yesterday. Our rates stand at 3.5 per cent, but it will be a huge shock if Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard doesn't have another serious hack at them on Thursday March 12. It is seen as likely that he will take the rates down to perhaps as low as 2.5 per cent, which would be significantly lower than those in Australia.
If that does come to pass - and our rates are likely to dip below those of our Tasman neighbours as soon as next week - then it will be the first time in many many years we have had lower rates, if you exclude very brief periods.
Indeed our rates dropped below those in Australia for a few days earlier this year, but that was essentially just down to the fact that our central bank had its regular review and took up the pruning shears just ahead of a review by its trans-Tasman counterpart.
But now there are signs of a real divergence of approach. The Reserve Bank of Australia very surprisingly chose to leave its rates at 3.25 per cent yesterday. Our rates stand at 3.5 per cent, but it will be a huge shock if Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard doesn't have another serious hack at them on Thursday March 12. It is seen as likely that he will take the rates down to perhaps as low as 2.5 per cent, which would be significantly lower than those in Australia.
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