Why Nicola Willis’ commitment to tight spending means Reserve Bank will be back in the spotlight

KEY FACTS: The RBNZ cut the OCR by 25 points to 3.5% on Wednesday. US President Donald Trump is temporarily backtracking on his tariff plans.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis is pledging to stick to the spending limits she outlined late last year. Just as we thought things at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) were about to get boring, monetary policy is being thrust back into the spotlight. United States President Donald Trump’s original decision to impose more widespread tariffs than expected is set to dampen economic growth here and abroad.



While tariffs disrupt global supply chains, making trade more expensive, economists believe they won’t prevent the RBNZ from cutting the Official Cash Rate (OCR) from a contractionary level to a neutral level..