Westpac Bank: The recent data is not strong enough, the RBNZ will raise interest rates in November instead of August

Westpac chief economist Kelly Eckhold said the RBNZ would raise the official cash rate to 5.75 per cent, but in November rather than August.

Recent data may not be strong enough to change the RBNZ’s strong preference to keep the official cash rate at 5.5%.

“We believe the themes of economic resilience and sticky inflation will persist and will eventually force the RBNZ to act. With the current sticky domestic inflation pressures likely to ease only gradually, we expect a slow cycle of rate cuts to begin in the second half of 2024. “