Property Institute Welcomes Interest Rate Drop

Thursday, 15 November 2001, 10:01 am
Press Release: New Zealand Property Institute

Wednesday 14 November 2001

The New Zealand Property Institute (NZPI) today welcomed The Reserve Banks move to cut the Official Cash Rate (OCR) from 5.25 per cent to 4.75 per cent.

New Zealand Property Institute CEO, Conor English said today, "In September we welcomed Dr Brash's half percent cut but said at the time we didn't believe it was enough and we called for further reductions. This move today is therefore welcomed.

"It is an uncertain world out there, but what seems reasonably clear is that inflation does not appear to be on the rampage.

"New Zealand has approximately $428 billion invested in property assets and property is a major contributor to GDP and growth.

"How our property asset performs has a significant impact on the economy. It is therefore important that New Zealand gets the monetary policy balancing act right and is not too out of step with other central banks around the globe.

"We look forward to seeing what impact this sensible move of Dr Brashs' has on the NZPI Confidence Indicator (measures confidence in the property and construction sectors), due out shortly ," Mr. English concluded.

http://www.propery.org.nz for NZPI Confidence Index details.

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