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NZ set for first rate hike in seven years
New Zealand's central bank is likely to raise interest rates for the first time in seven years, even as the country's biggest city notches 50 days in lockdown. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand's monetary policy committee meets this week, and is expected on Wednesday to lift the official cash rate (OCR) from the emergency 0.25 per cent level. If it does so, it will be the first change since March 2020, when the RBNZ cut 75 points in response to the arrival of COVID-19 to Kiwi shores. Governor Adrian Orr was expected to raise rates at the last meeting in August, however, the RBNZ was spooked when New Zealand's first ... (full story)