PM: Strong dollar affecting exports

File Photo / NZH

The Government hasn't at this point taken any advice on whether the Reserve Bank should intervene to bring down the value of the New Zealand dollar, Prime Minister John Key says.

The currency reached its highest level against the US dollar in 27 months today when at 8am it stood at US76.54.

"New Zealand is suffering from the same situation as every currency against the US dollar - rapid appreciation - which is a reflection of the very weak position the US economy is in," Mr Key told reporters.

"There's no getting away from the fact that it puts huge pressure on our companies, our exporters, and it's worrying because we've been having an export-led recovery and the US dollar-based markets are very important to us."

He said the vast bulk of trade with Asia was exchanged in US dollars and it wasn't just New Zealand's exports to the US that were affected.

Asked whether the Government would consider increasing supply through the Reserve Bank to cheapen the dollar and relieve the pressure, he replied: "We haven't had any advice on whether we ourselves would want to combat that. Around the world countries have been looking at those issues but at this point we haven't taken any advice on that and we're unlikely to do that at this point."

- NZPA