A weakening recovery and the Christchurch earthquake have prompted the Reserve Bank to leave official interest rates on hold this morning at 3 per cent.

If Alan Bollard's interest rate decision today had needed a theme song, it would have been the Rolling Stones' "Time is on my side."

The Christchurch earthquake means the Reserve Bank is now unlikely to raise the Official Cash Rate (OCR) again until next year, ASB economists say.

The New Zealand dollar opened firmer this morning as anxiety about the global economy eased.

Fran O'Sullivan writes that Phil Goff has been handed a couple of political aces - but how he plays them remains to be seen.

The Federal Reserve has voted to buy US Govt debt in a fresh bid to spur the world's biggest economy.

This makes the decision about choosing to fix or float that little bit tougher.

While increasing the OCR this morning, Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard has indicated that future hikes won't be as aggressive as earlier tipped.

The NZ dollar has tumbled this morning, after Reserve Bank governor Alan Bollard signalled that future interest rate rises will be more modest than earlier indicated.

Bollard's statement carried a thinly veiled warning about the consequences of passing on GST increases.

The NZ dollar climbed to a six-month high as a surge in new home sales in the US stoked investors' appetite for higher-yielding, or riskier, assets.

It's clear the economy has become dependent on the debt growth fuelled by the housing market's ever-increasing values.

The New Zealand dollar may advance as traders eschew an out-of-favour greenback and seek growth assets Downunder this week.

The Reserve Bank is tipped to raise the Official Cash Rate next week, despite lower than expected economic growth.

Over a third of kiwi households will have to use credit to pay for otherwise unaffordable expenses if the Reserve Bank increases interest rates in the coming months, according to a new survey.