Mark Smith: ASB Senior Economist ahead of the inflation rate announcement for Q4

The Reserve Bank isn't expected to change its course, despite inflation remaining higher for longer.  Stats NZ is providing its latest CPI update at 10.45am.  Economists expect the inflation rate to remain about 3% – the very upper end of the Reserve Bank's target range.  That's higher than forecast, reflecting a higher-than-expected rise in travel costs.  ASB Senior Economist Mark Smith told Mike Hosking it’s a little too soon to be thinking about hikes to the OCR, which is likely to be conditional on inflation.  He says the Reserve Bank likely feels that there’s still a bit of spare capacity in the economy, and that should be sufficient to push down domestic inflation, which should contribute to overall inflation going closer to 2%.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.