NZIER Shadow Board is overwhelmingly in favour of keeping the OCR at 2.25 percent in April

The NZIER Monetary Policy Shadow Board recommends the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) keep the Official Cash Rate (OCR) at 2.25 percent in the upcoming Monetary Policy Review on 8 April 2026. Shadow Board members agreed that keeping the OCR on hold is appropriate for now, given the high degree of uncertainty over the oil price shock in the wake of the US-Israel war against Iran, when the New Zealand economy is still recovering. The members stressed that the central bank should sit tight and look through the impact of the oil price shock on inflation.