The Reserve Bank of New Zealand kept its Official Cash Rate (OCR) steady at 0.25% in its first interest rate decision of the year, as expected. However, some were anticipating the RBNZ to shift to a more hawkish stance after a solid few months of rising home prices and inflation data. New Zealand’s economic strength in recent months is largely due to the country’s ability to contain the virus pandemic within its own borders. While the consensus held around changes to the OCR is that it would be premature to raise rates, some expected a pullback in the size of large scale asset purchases (LSAPs), but it appears the ... (full story)