WELLINGTON, March 10 (Reuters) - New Zealand's central bank took markets by surprise on Thursday, cutting interest rates to a record low of 2.25 percent and signalling more cuts may be needed following a deterioration in the outlook for global growth.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) cut the Official Cash Rate by 25 basis points to 2.25 percent, citing a material decline in a range of inflation expectation measures.
"Further policy easing may be required to ensure that future average inflation settles near the middle of the target range," the bank said in a statement.
The RBNZ is mandated with keeping annual inflation at between 1 percent and 3 percent. It is currently running at around 0.1 percent.
Of 21 economists polled by Reuters, 17 had expected the bank to hold rates steady with only four predicting the cut of a quarter percentage point. For the text of the statement double click on [RBNZ17]
