An accelerating recession moved the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to cut interest rates by 25 basis points, putting benchmark borrowing costs at 8.00%. This is the first RBNZ rate cut since 2003. The accompanying release cited greater-than-expected risks to growth and tightening international credit conditions as primary catalysts for the decision. Borrowing a page from Australia's playbook, Governor Alan Bollard said that monetary policy has been "reasonably tight for some time, and is now restraining activity and medium-term inflation pressures." Bollard added that although recent spikes in oil and food prices will bring inflation to a peak near 5% this year, the slowing economy will act to bring price pressure to target levels in the medium term. Shaping expectations in a typically candid fashion, Bollard concluded by saying that "provided that the outlook for inflation continues to improve and there is no excessive exchange rate depreciation, we would expect to lower the OCR further."
