9.30 am
The Reserve Bank has cut its benchmark interest rate by one quarter of one per cent, to 6.25 per cent, in the first change to the Official Cash Rate since May 2000.
The announcement came with the release of the bank's quarterly monetary policy statement at 9 am today.
The Governor of the Reserve Bank, Dr Don Brash, said it now appeared inflation pressures in the medium term were more likely to ease than to build.
"For one thing, it now seems likely that headline inflation will retreat from 4 per cent quite quickly, reducing the risk of a spill-over into wage- and price-setting behaviour," he said.