The Reserve Bank of New Zealand projected the cash rate will start to rise in the second half of 2022, signalling the end of super-loose central bank policy settings in response to the pandemic that have fuelled record high asset prices in equities and residential property.

The New Zealand central bank, headed by governor Adrian Orr, kept its official cash rate at 0.25 per cent in May and maintained its large scale asset purchase program at $NZ100 billion ($93.9 billion). The bank’s funding for lending program was also unchanged in May.