RBNZ dismissing possibility of negative OCR?

By Sophia Rodrigues

The RBNZ appears to be dismissing the possibility of a negative official cash rate. In the Financial Stability Report published Wednesday, the RBNZ said a negative OCR is not currently a central scenario in its published forecasts. "Given that unconventional monetary policy tools have not been used in New Zealand, we are less certain of the impacts of negative interest rates for New Zealand banks," the RBNZ said. The RBNZ is considering the potential impacts of unconventional monetary policy tools on bank profitability in its current preparatory work on unconventional monetary policy.