The Reserve Bank of New Zealand is expected to raise the official cash rate by 25 basis points in October, followed by two further hikes pencilled in for February and March, taking the OCR to a peak of 3.5%, the upper end of the central bank's range of estimates for the neutral rate, according to a Monday note by ANZ.
The bank said the three main drivers behind the change in forecast are higher oil prices, a lower exchange rate, and a better starting point for the economy than the RBNZ had assumed.
ANZ said the updated track balances upside and downside risks to medium-term inflation, though it does not mean downside risks have gone away, with the higher oil price intensifying both upside risks to inflation and downside risks to growth.