RBNZ: statement could be interpreted as more dovish - ANZ

Analysts at ANZ argued that today’s Statement could be interpreted as more dovish than it might have been. 

Key Quotes:

"Developments since February have been positive for headline CPI inflation on the whole, with a lower exchange rate and higher oil prices."

"But the RBNZ is treating this largely as noise: it cares about non-tradable inflation."

"The outlook for domestic inflation remains benign, with non-tradable inflation forecast to increase only very gradually. "

 "Today’s Statement confirms the RBNZ remains firmly on hold. Putting equal odds of the next move being a cut or a hike in the first paragraph sends a strong signal to the market that the Bank is very comfortable on the fence."

"The market interpreted the Statement on the dovish side: the 2-year swap has rallied 4bp to 2.24% and the NZD/USD dropped half a cent to sit under 0.6950."