Westpac NZ wary of further stresses

Things are going to get tougher for Westpac's borrowers. (Image: DepositPhotos)

Tue, 09 May 2023

Westpac New Zealand is preparing for a more difficult second half of the financial year with mortgage borrowers set to face more strain as rapid interest rate hikes of the past year-and-a-half continue to filter through the system. The Reserve Bank of NZ (RBNZ) has raised the official cash rate (OCR) by 500 basis points since October 2021 to 5.25% and is expected to lift that another quarter-point to 5.5% when the monetary policy committee next reviews policy later this month. That’s fed through to higher retail lending and depo...

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