The kiwi was the worst performing currency tracked by Reuters overnight, falling as low 85.45 US cents after rising as high as 87 cents earlier this week.

Australian business groups are urging the Reserve Bank to exercise caution before considering raising interest rates, given improving signs in the economy are not yet widespread.

New Zealand building consents for residential housing fell 1.7 percent in February, the second straight monthly decline.

Around $47,000 could be shaved off the cost of each new place built in factories under Labour's planned KiwiBuild 100,000-house scheme, an opposition spokesman says.

New Zealand's inbound migration rose to a 10-year high last month, as China overtook the UK to become the biggest source of net migrants for the first time in a decade.