RBNZ set to raise rates

Pandemic woes: The normally bustling High Street in Auckland’s central business district is largely deserted during a lockdown to curb the Covid-19 outbreak. — Reuters

WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s central bank is expected to embark on a series of interest-rate increases to tame inflation and rein in soaring house prices, even as a coronavirus outbreak that has now spread beyond Auckland poses a greater risk to economic growth.

Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) policymakers will raise the official cash rate (OCR) by a quarter percentage point to 0.5% today in Wellington, according to 20 of 21 economists in a Bloomberg survey.