Hawkesby Firms Up RBNZ Stance

Comments from RBNZ Assistant Governor Hawkesby haven't offered much in the way of new trains of thought, re-affirming the Bank's "go hard, go early" preference. Hawkesby reiterates that some economic data has surprised on the upside, although cautioned that global risks still lie to the downside, and as such, the New Zealand economy will required continued policy support. Hawkesby also stressed that there are no concerns re: -ve rates being problematic for the banking sector and that the lower bound for the OCR is likely to be fluid, and move in line with the deployment of other policy tools.