Uncertainty Freezes OCR, But Government Can’t Sit on Its Hands

Responding to today’s Official Cash Rate decision, Taxpayers’ Union spokesperson Tory Relf said:

“As expected, the Reserve Bank has held the OCR at 2.25%. With global conflict clouding the inflation outlook, the Bank has sensibly chosen to wait and see.”

“But while the Reserve Bank can afford to sit tight, the Government cannot.”

“In a scathing weekend column, The Post’s Luke Malpass laid bare what we’ve been warning for years: New Zealand’s books are in poor shape, leaving us dangerously exposed to external shocks. This mirrors repeated warnings from Treasury that our fiscal position is unhealthy. Kicking the can down the road will only make the eventual correction more painful.”

“We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: the Government must cut spending. Our A Pathway to Surplus sets out how. Budget 2026 simply must demonstrate significant expenditure reductions, and not reprioritisations, and a credible path to surplus. A failure to do so will lead to our placement on negative credit watch metastasising into a full-blown credit downgrade and a blowout in the interest bill."

“New Zealanders deserve better than drift and denial. It’s time for fiscal discipline.”