Economy tipped to grow 0.7%, bolstering case for RBNZ rate pause

Lower interest rates, improving fortunes for the primary sector and a recovery in international tourism have been cited as helping lift GDP. (Image: Getty)

Rebecca Howard

Mon, 16 Jun 2025

The economy is likely to have ticked up 0.7% quarter-on-quarter in the first three months of the year, which will add to the view that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand will keep the Official Cash Rate on hold at 3.25% in July.The Reserve Bank of NZ (RBNZ) forecasted the economy would grow 0.4% in the May Monetary Policy Statement; however, its Kiwi-GDP Nowcast, a weekly estimate of GDP growth, jumped to 0.6341% on Friday, up from 0.5479% the previous week. The Kiwi-GDP Nowcast incorporates the latest available data. Bank economists als...

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