RBNZ to cut cash rate twice more this year to 4.75%
Repeats earlier story with no changes to text
reuters://realtime/verb=Open/url=cpurl%3A%2F%2Fapps.cp.%2FApps%2Fcb-polls%3FRIC%3DNZINTR%253DECI poll data
By Devayani Sathyan
Aug 15 (Reuters) -The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) will likely cut interest rates by another 25 basis points at each of its next policy meetings in October and November following a rate reduction on Wednesday, according to economists in a snap Reuters poll.
While the RBNZ's decision on Aug. 14 to trim borrowing costs from a 15-year high surprised most forecasters, the move was in line with market expectations, as inflation showed signs it was quickly moving towards the central bank's target range of 1% to 3%.
This puts the RBNZ in the company of the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Bank of Canada, which have already eased monetary policy this year.
With the economy under pressure from slowing domestic demand and a cooling labor market, New Zealand's central bank is predicted to cut the official cash rate (OCR) NZINTR=ECI twice this year, the survey showed.
"The Reserve Bank's cut was a positive step, it's good to get the first one out of the way. Now we can focus on how many they're going to do...We think they will cut 25 basis points at every meeting," said Jarrod Kerr, chief economist at Kiwibank.
"You have a central bank that has worked hard to get inflation back down and they can now say, hand on heart, that's happening and the very restrictive interest rates are no longer required," he said.
A strong majority of economists, 23 of 25, forecast the RBNZ would cut the cash rate by at least 50 basis points to 4.75% by end-2024. That compares with the expectation of a decline to 5.00% in a survey taken before the rate cut on Wednesday. Two forecast the cash rate to fall to 5.00%.
Interest rate futures are pricing in more than 75 basis points worth of rate cuts by year-end.
More than 90% of economists, 23 of 25, forecast the RBNZ to cut by 25 basis points at its next meeting on Oct. 9, with one predicting a 50 basis point cut and one expecting no change.
The largest banks in the country - ANZ, ASB, Kiwibank, Bank of New Zealand, and Westpac - all expected 50 basis points of cuts in the next quarter. Of those banks, only ASB and BNZ correctly predicted the August cut.
Median forecasts in the survey showed the RBNZ cutting rates by 125 basis points next year to 3.50% by end-2025, lower than the RBNZ's latest projections for the OCR to be at 3.85%.
"In the short term, the Reserve Bank's OCR projections imply quite steady interest rate cuts," said Nick Tuffley, chief economist at ASB. "It's a fairly substantial easing cycle, but it is one that looks like it will be necessary given how high current interest rate settings remain."
Reporting by Devayani Sathyan in Bengaluru; Polling by Veronica Khongwir; Editing by Hari Kishan, Ross Finley and Jamie Freed
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