OCR Freeze Little Comfort to Working Kiwis Struggling Under the Cost of Government Crisis

Commenting on the Reserve Bank’s decision to keep the Official Cash Rate (OCR) at 5.5%, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Callum Purves, said:

“The Reserve Bank’s announcement today that the OCR will remain at 5.5% will be tough news for Kiwi families up and down the country who are struggling with the cost of living crisis.

“Businesses and homeowners who are facing mortgage renewals at high interest rates will have a rough few months ahead, and this won’t be getting easier any time soon given Westpac’s expectation that there may be further OCR hikes later this year.

“This high OCR is necessary to try and rein in the runaway inflation which this Government has caused through dangerous levels of reckless overspending. Despite warnings from RBNZ and the IMF, this Government keeps throwing taxpayers’ money down the ever-growing fiscal black hole.

“The cost of government crisis is reaching tipping point, and New Zealand needs a government which will stop shifting the burden of its financial mismanagement onto ordinary Kiwi households.”