Banks › Reserve Bank of New Zealand › History › 27 May 2026
Reserve Bank of New Zealand: decision of 27 May 2026
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand held the Official Cash Rate at 2.25% on the chairperson's casting vote after the Committee split three to three.
Decision
hold
- Rate
- 2.25%=2.25%
- Change
- 0 bp
- Vote
- 3–3
- Announced
- 14:00 Auckland time
Sources
- Statement
- rbnz.govt.nz/news-and-events/news/2026/05/…
- Monetary Policy Statement
- rbnz.govt.nz/monetary-policy/monetary-poli…
- Recorded
- 27 May 2026
- Data
- JSON
What the bank said
The Committee said annual inflation was 3.1% in the March quarter and expected it to peak at 4.3% in the September quarter because of the Middle East conflict, before returning to the 2% midpoint in mid-2027.
It noted that core inflation, wage growth and medium- to long-term inflation expectations remained consistent with inflation returning to target, while business and consumer confidence had weakened.
The Committee said it was focused on ensuring that increased costs do not lead to elevated medium-term inflation, while avoiding unnecessary economic volatility.
Guidance. The Committee said the OCR would most likely need to increase sooner and by more than envisaged in the February Monetary Policy Statement.
“On balance, the OCR will most likely need to increase sooner and by more than envisaged in the February Monetary Policy Statement.”
Dissent
Three members, Carl Hansen, Hayley Gourley and Prasanna Gai, voted for a 25 basis point increase to 2.50%; the chairperson's casting vote kept the OCR on hold.
Before and after
- Previous decision: 8 Apr 2026, held the Official Cash Rate (OCR) at 2.25%.
- Next decision: 8 Jul 2026, raised the Official Cash Rate (OCR) by 25 bp to 2.50%.
- All Reserve Bank of New Zealand decisions and the rate history