Inflation may have peaked in the March quarter

Surging food prices will have contributed to the increase in the CPI. (Image: Getty)

Wed, 19 Apr 2023

Inflation may have peaked in the March quarter, but economists don’t expect it to deter the central bank from its hiking path. ASB Bank senior economist Mark Smith is expecting annual inflation to remain steady at 7.2% after rising 1.8% in the March quarter. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) forecast 7.3% in its latest monetary policy statement. In a bid to rein in inflation, it last raised the official cash rate (OCR) earlier this month, by 50 basis points to 5.25%, and signalled there was more to come. According...

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