Banks › Reserve Bank of New Zealand › History › 18 Feb 2026
Reserve Bank of New Zealand: decision of 18 February 2026
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand held the Official Cash Rate at 2.25%.
Decision
hold
- Rate
- 2.25%=2.25%
- Change
- 0 bp
- Vote
- consensus
- Announced
- 14:00 Auckland time
Sources
- Statement
- rbnz.govt.nz/news-and-events/news/2026/02/…
- Monetary Policy Statement (PDF)
- rbnz.govt.nz/-/media/project/sites/rbnz/fi…
- Recorded
- 18 Feb 2026
- Data
- JSON
What the bank said
The Monetary Policy Committee said annual consumer price inflation was slightly above its 1 to 3% target band at the end of 2025, driven mainly by food and electricity prices and local council rates.
It said it was confident inflation would fall to the 2% midpoint over the next 12 months because of spare capacity in the economy, modest wage growth and core inflation within the target band.
The Committee noted that the economy was at an early stage of recovery, with unemployment still elevated and households cautious in their spending.
Guidance. The Committee said monetary policy was likely to remain accommodative for some time if the economy evolves as expected, with settings normalising gradually as the recovery strengthens.
“If the economy evolves as expected, monetary policy is likely to remain accommodative for some time.”
Before and after
- Previous decision: 26 Nov 2025, cut the Official Cash Rate (OCR) by 25 bp to 2.25%.
- Next decision: 8 Apr 2026, held the Official Cash Rate (OCR) at 2.25%.
- All Reserve Bank of New Zealand decisions and the rate history