The Reserve Bank of New Zealand increased the Official Cash Rate by 25 basis points to 2.50% at its July meeting. Committee members justified the decision by pointing out that inflation remains above target, growth is expected to accelerate over the next six months and that the prevailing level of the OCR was judged to be stimulatory. The Monetary Policy Committee indicated that additional removal of monetary stimulus is likely if the economy evolves as expected. The decision was unanimous, a notable shift from the split decision recorded in May where Governor Anna Breman’s casting vote resulted in the OCR remaining ... (full story)