24 May 2023

Interest rate hiked to 5.5 percent - economic analysis

From Checkpoint, 5:07 pm on 24 May 2023

High interest rates are here for a long time, not a good time, with the Reserve Bank cranking up the OCR another 25 basis points.

The central bank appears to think it's done its job - and 5.5 percent is as high as the official cash rate will go.

But it's set to stay high for the forseeable future, and may not start coming down until September next year, meaning mortgage holders need to get used to high interest rates.

ASB chief economist Nick Tuffley talks to Susana Lei'ataua.