RBNZ Governor Orr signals cautious policy approach with small steps

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) will take small steps in monetary policy and observe how things go as the world responds to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Adrian Orr said on Thursday.

“It’s better to take small steps and observe as we go how things unfold,” Orr told a parliamentary committee.

“The uncertainty that is out there in the global economy on how business, people and governments are responding to this health risk will be an important underlying driver of the inflation pressures we lead into,” he said.

On Wednesday, the RBNZ hiked interest rates by 25 basis points for a second time in a row.

(Reporting by Praveen Menon; editing by Jonathan Oatis)