RBNZ's Richardson: All options for size of rate hike were open but 25 bps was briefly considered

Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) monetary policy committee (MPC) member Adam Richardson commented on hot inflation and on the board’s rate hike debate, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

Key quotes

"The inflation shock that is going on around the world continues to leak into domestic prices a bit more than we assumed,"

"What we tend to find is that domestic inflation is a lot more persistent than imported inflation."

“The monetary policy committee’s Aug. 17 meeting did canvas all options for the size of its rate increase, but a smaller 25-basis-point move wasn’t given much consideration.”

"It's always in there, but it wasn't a huge or major part of the discussion or landscape."

“Long-term inflation expectations have remained "relatively well anchored.”

“As any central bank would say, what we’ll be focused on is bringing core [inflation] measures down. You might see a bit of volatility in headline [inflation], but the core will be the key focus for us.”

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