Economist: Reserve Bank of New Zealand may keep rates unchanged at next week's meeting

Golden Ten Data reported on May 22 that Ebury economist Anthony Malouf said the Reserve Bank of New Zealand is likely to keep interest rates unchanged at next week's policy meeting. He added that although recent inflation surprised to the upside, mainly due to rising energy prices, increased uncertainty caused by the Iran war has led to weakening domestic demand. He stated that the most likely path is to keep interest rates unchanged for now and use the policy meeting to better communicate their economic outlook. However, Malouf expects the bank to raise rates twice later this year, with another increase early next year, bringing the official cash rate to 3%.