Home loan rates could be lower

ANZ economist Mark Smith told the NZ Property Investors Federation confederation conference yesterday that although the New Zealand economy was in good shape relative to many other economies international lenders were still nervous and demanding a high risk premium.

He says that the state of the international markets are probably going be more important for New Zealand now that Graeme Wheeler has taken over as governor of the Reserve Bank.

Wheeler comes to the Reserve Bank from a high profile position at the World Bank.

Smith says Wheeler has a better understanding of the international situation than Bollard and that he is likely to take more account of international events than his predecessor.