Reserve Bank likely to cut key interest rate by 50bp next week

The Reserve Bank is widely expected to cut the benchmark interest rate by a punchy 50 basis points next week as it seeks to ease pressure in a weak economy.
All the major local banks, including ANZ, ASB, Westpac, BNZ and Kiwibank, confirmed this week that they expect the Reserve Bank to reduce the Official Cash Rate by 50bp to 4.25 percent at its Monetary Policy Statement next Wednesday.