The New Zealand dollar gained after the Reserve Bank cut the official cash rate by a quarter-point and called for a weaker currency, while dropping a reference to criteria justifying intervention.
The kiwi rose to US66.28c as at 5pm yesterday from US65.78c immediately before the release, and US66.16c on Wednesday. The trade-weighted index advanced to 70.49 from 70.20.
RBNZ governor Graeme Wheeler cut the OCR 25 basis points to 3 per cent on the prospect of slowing growth and low inflation, and said more reductions were likely. Wheeler said further depreciation was needed to support the country's exporters, while removing his reference to the NZ dollar being unjustifiably and unsustainably high - key criteria for the bank to intervene in foreign exchange markets.
The local currency gained to A89.89c yesterday from A89.14c on Wednesday. It was little changed at 60.57 euro cents from 60.45c on Wednesday, and traded at 42.43 British pence from 42.48p. The kiwi climbed to 82.21 from 81.82 on Wednesday.
