Rising inflation poses a threat to NZ's growth and warrant a return to more normal interest rates, Graeme Wheeler says.

The OCR has been left unchanged this morning, making a March hike now 'a near certainty' according to one economist.

The NZIER shadow board believes the Reserve Bank should raise the official cash rate when it reviews it tomorrow.

The NZIER shadow board believes the Reserve Bank should leave the official cash rate on hold at 2.5 per cent when it reviews it tomorrow.

Editorial: The Reserve Bank is sailing on largely uncharted sails with its restrictions on low-deposit home loans.

The share of new mortgage lending going to borrowers with low deposits halved in October, the first month in which the Reserve Bank's curbs on such loans applied.

Lending restrictions are starting to ease the pressure on the property market but first-home buyers are still finding it tough as prices and interest rates creep up.

Despite the introduction of the Reserve Bank's lending restrictions, home affordability has continued to worsen according to a new report.

Raising savings is the best way to sustainably take pressure off the exchange rate, says Reserve Bank assistant governor John McDermott.

A fall in the number of first-home buyers is plaguing Australia too - evidence, the Finance Minister says, that it's not the Reserve Bank's mortgage restrictions.

The Reserve Bank doubts its curbs on mortgage lending at high loan-to-value ratios will have a material counter-productive effect on house building.

Reserve Bank Governor Graeme Wheeler has signalled he might push back the start of increases in the official cash rate if the New Zealand dollar stays high.

The Reserve Bank has rejected claims that its curbs on low-deposit mortgage lending will have the perverse effect of reducing the amount of new housing.

Businesses are the most cheerful they have been since 1999, a good sign for growth and employment but a potential harbinger of higher inflation and interest rates.

The struggle to enter the property market for the first time has been a hot topic, from property availability to lending criteria.

The Reserve Bank has put borrowers on notice, pencilling in a full percentage point of interest rate rises next year and as much again in 2016.

Auckland house prices are still rising fast, as the Reserve Bank's loan-to-value ratio moves are about to be introduced next month.

Rising New Zealand property values accelerated last month as the lack of listings in Canterbury and Auckland continue to overheat the market.

The widespread assumption that most first home buyers will be shut out of the housing market by the Reserve Bank's curbs on low-deposit home loans may be too swift.

Now that we know what the Reserve Bank is doing by way of curbs on low-deposit mortgage lending the question is whether it will work, writes Brian Fallow.

The curbs on low-deposit home lending announced by the Reserve Bank yesterday are likely to prove more restrictive than it thinks, the Bankers Association warns.