Domestic money markets are relatively calm despite politicians in the United States remaining in deadlock over an agreement to resolve the US budget crisis before the end of the year.
The dollar has steadied after several days of losses and the domestic sharemarket is down only slightly.
Republicans and Democrats remain divided over measures to replace spending and tax legislation due to expire on 1 January.
Failure to get an agreement will trigger spending cuts and tax increases worth $US600 billion.
Radio New Zealand's economics correspondent said this would be likely to push the world's biggest economy into recession.
Currency strategist Derek Rankin said the New Zealand dollar has lost several cents in the past few days as anxiety over the deadline continues to mount.
He said the kiwi could fall as low as 81.5 cents US, from slightly less than 82.5 cents earlier on Monday, if a deal can't be done on time.
But he expects one eventually and thinks the New Zealand dollar will rebound as a result.
