UPDATED 12.05PM: For the second quarter in a row, New Zealand has deflation.

The consumers price index fell 0.3% in the March quarter, following a 0.2% fall in the December quarter.

Statistics New Zealand says plummeting petrol prices are to blame.

They went down 11%.

Without petrol, inflation was at 0.3%.

ANZ chief economist Cameron Bagrie says outside of housing there's no inflation.

"All the core measures seem to be congregated sub-one-and-a-half percent, and the Reserve Bank is sort of targeting around two. So there's some real debate going forward as to whether the Reserve Bank has got the official cash rate too high."