WELLINGTON, March 10 (Reuters) - The head of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand said he doubted the benchmark interest rate would fall further.
The central bank slashed the official cash rate by 50 basis points to 2.5 percent on Thursday to cushion an already weak economy from the impact of the devastating earthquake which struck the country's second biggest city, Christchurch, on Feb 22.
'I doubt it will come down further, we've done a big move today, this is a big move and we just didn't think there was any point in doing little ones,' RBNZ governor Alan Bollard said on Radio New Zealand.
'We consider this is a one-off move...but if we find very bad news coming through we can always change our minds.'
He said when the rebuilding started to take effect rates could be expected to move higher.
(Created by Gyles Beckford) Keywords: NEWZEALAND ECONOMY/RATES (Gyles.Beckford@thomsonreuters.com)(+64 4 471 4321)(Reuters Messaging: gyles.beckford.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
The central bank slashed the official cash rate by 50 basis points to 2.5 percent on Thursday to cushion an already weak economy from the impact of the devastating earthquake which struck the country's second biggest city, Christchurch, on Feb 22.
'I doubt it will come down further, we've done a big move today, this is a big move and we just didn't think there was any point in doing little ones,' RBNZ governor Alan Bollard said on Radio New Zealand.
'We consider this is a one-off move...but if we find very bad news coming through we can always change our minds.'
He said when the rebuilding started to take effect rates could be expected to move higher.
(Created by Gyles Beckford) Keywords: NEWZEALAND ECONOMY/RATES (Gyles.Beckford@thomsonreuters.com)(+64 4 471 4321)(Reuters Messaging: gyles.beckford.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.