Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr

 

PHOTO: ROBERT KITCHIN/STUFF Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr – shocked everyone with the size of OCR cut.

When Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr shocked the market by slashing interest rates to a new low, Wellington IT contractor Dave Hartnell wondered how he was going to keep paying his mother’s rest home bills.

Orr cut the OCR, or official cash rate, to 1 per cent, taking interest rates to historic lows, and the New Zealand economy into new territory.

Economist Cameron Bagrie says get used to it – low interest rates could be the new normal, potentially for a decade or more.

Financial advisor Martin Hawes agrees. Low inflation and low interest rates are with us for the long term.

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