Business confidence nixes July RBNZ cut, eyes turn to August

RBNZ Governor Christian Hawkesby. The next rate call is July 9. (Image: NZME)

Wed, 02 Jul 2025

Times are tough, but the latest business confidence data firmed up bets the Reserve Bank of New Zealand will hold rates in July before easing to 3% or lower. BNZ head of research Stephen Toplis said the NZ Institute of Economic Research’s quarterly survey of business opinion (QSBO) “was simply not weak enough to give us confidence the RBNZ will cut its cash rate at its July 9 meeting.” Prior to Tuesday’s data, BNZ had pencilled in another 25-basis point cut to the Official Cash Rate (OCR) next week. &ldquo...

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