19.02.202603:29:29UTC+00New Zealand Dollar Edges Higher

The New Zealand dollar edged up to $0.597 on Thursday, after sliding 1.4% in the previous session to a near two-week low following a dovish hold by the Reserve Bank. At its Wednesday meeting—its first under Governor Anna Breman—the RBNZ kept the cash rate unchanged at 2.25%, signaling that monetary policy would remain accommodative for some time, with inflation expected to return to the midpoint of the target range over the next year. Breman noted that a rate hike later in the year remains possible if economic growth tracks the bank’s projections. In response to the decision, markets pared back expectations of an imminent rate increase, shifting the anticipated timing of policy tightening further into late 2026. Meanwhile, Assistant Governor Karen Silk underscored the central bank’s unusual challenge: fostering a solid economic recovery without stoking substantial inflationary pressures.