-- Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Anna Breman said New Zealand cannot avoid being "buffeted" by global forces stemming from the Middle East conflict, with the impact to be felt differently across sectors, regions, and households, according to a Wednesday statement.
Breman said annual consumer price index (CPI) inflation was 3.1% in the March quarter, above the 1% to 3% target range and slightly higher than expected at the time of the April monetary policy decision, with much of the increase driven by fuel prices, though measures of core inflation have remained stable within the target.
"The Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC) decision on 8 April to hold the [Official Cash Rate] at 2.25 percent balanced the potential benefits of responding pre-emptively to the risk of higher medium-term inflation against the cost of unnecessarily stifling the economic recovery," Breman added.