*** Bank Views following the RBNZ MonPol.......>

RBNZ: *** Bank Views following the RBNZ MonPol decision (2/3): 

- Barclays: The statement did not necessarily signal any shift in the MonPol

stance & maintained that MonPol will remain 'expansionary' for a considerable

time. Overall, today's policy statement & press conference do not alter our view

of the RBNZ keeping policy rates on hold through '18.

- BNZ: The defining is the clarity of the message. Do we believe that there is

equal likelihood of an easing as a tightening at the moment? No. And we are not

even convinced that the RBNZ thinks that as it still has a rising interest rate

track as its central scenario. And to be fair, the details of the Bank's

writings actually imply there is almost no chance of a rate cut or a rate hike

any time soon. So the equal chance is, in both cases, near zero. We too have

taken the opportunity to formally push back our forecast first rate hike to May

2019 from February. We had signaled that we were moving in this direction,

anyway, and were looking for a catalyst to move. Today's statement is such a

catalyst. And we again caution that May is only indicative. The only thing we

can say with some conviction is that the first hike is some time away.