Most NZ-based economists are picking the Reserve Bank will commence its delayed cycle of interest rates hikes when it next reviews rates in October. However, they concede that much depends on the course of the current Covid outbreak. And that outbreak has convinced one independent global economics research firm to now predict that the RBNZ won't begin lifting rates till May next year. Westpac senior economist Satish Ranchhod believes the RBNZ's leading of the Official Cash Rate for now at the 0.25% level it has been since March 2020 will "most likely prove to just be a delay". "As we’ve seen over the past year, ... (full story)