OCR (Official Cash Rate)
The Reserve Bank’s benchmark interest rate — the dial that moves mortgage rates, savings rates and the whole cost of money in NZ.
The Official Cash Rate is set by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand roughly every six weeks. It is the rate banks earn or pay on money held at the central bank, and it flows through to what you pay on a mortgage and earn on savings.
When inflation runs hot, the RBNZ raises the OCR to cool spending; when the economy needs support, it cuts. For households, the practical effect is felt at mortgage refix time — a percentage point either way changes a typical Auckland mortgage payment by hundreds per fortnight.
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