The New Zealand dollar fell as traders digested comments from Finance Minister Grant Robertson that the Reserve Bank's mandate will be widened, while offshore, the announcement of the new Federal Reserve chair is keenly awaited.
The kiwi fell to US68.58c as at 5pm today from US68.79c in New York onFriday. The trade-weighted index fell to 72.78 from 73.12 at the end of last week. Robertson told Television New Zealand's Q+A show on Sunday that the Reserve Bank will need to consider "other goals in the economy, such as making sure that we maximise employment" as well as price stability when making monetary policy decisions, which could see it tolerating more inflation.
Meanwhile, it was reported that Donald Trump was likely to announce Federal Reserve governor Jerome Powell as his nominee to be the next chairman, a more dovish choice than the contender, Stanford economist John Taylor. The kiwi traded at 52.12p from 52.25p on Friday in New York and slipped to €58.96c from €59.09c. It fell to A89.17c from A89.32c, fell to 4.5506 yuan from 4.5611 yuan and slipped to ¥77.79 from ¥78.
