NZ’s Central Bank Gives Mortgage Payers an Early Christmas Present With Interest Rate Cut

The official cash rate has been cut by 50 points, providing homeowners with some relief, and retailers with some hope.

Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr looks on at a press conference at Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand, on March 26, 2018. Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images

New Zealand’s Reserve Bank has cut the official cash rate (OCR) by 50 basis points (bps) to 4.25 percent today and indicated a similar size cut will be announced after its next meeting in February.

The decision is in line with what most economists had predicted. It is the second consecutive 50 bps cut and third OCR reduction since August.