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OCR expected to remain steady with hikes to come later in the year

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Wed, 18 Feb 2026, 9:12am
(Photo / Getty Images)
(Photo / Getty Images)

OCR expected to remain steady with hikes to come later in the year

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Wed, 18 Feb 2026, 9:12am

The new Reserve Bank Governor will deliver her first Monetary Policy Statement today. 

The central bank's expected to keep the OCR unchanged at 2.25%. 

It's likely to show when inflation should start easing, and when the economy should recover from last year's downturn. 

BNZ Chief Economist Mike Jones told Mike Hosking today’s announcement will likely see them swap out the mild easing bias the bank had in November and replace it with a mild tightening bias.  

He says they believe the Reserve Bank will probably want to signal a hike by around December this year. 

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