WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand’s central bank governor said on Thursday he was confident monetary policy settings were working, and the coronavirus outbreak would only have an impact on policy if it lasted for a sustained period.
“Our confidence is we are seeing monetary policy is working,” Reserve Bank of NZ (RBNZ) Governor Adrian Orr told lawmakers on the Finance and Expenditure Committee, saying planned capital spending by the government was supportive.
On Wednesday, the RBNZ held the official cash rate steady at a record low of 1.0 percent, as expected. It said it expected the impact from the coronavirus outbreak to be limited, based on current information, and would detract about 0.3 percentage points from economic growth in the March quarter.
(Reporting by Praveen Menon; Writing by John Mair, Editing by William Maclean)
