Open letter to Reserve Bank not to raise the OCR

In an open letter to Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr, Cunningham says: “I believe it is now time for you to watch, worry and wait rather than throwing more fire-power at the inflationary dragon. A dragon that (many signs would suggest) is already on death’s door.

“Governor Orr: Don’t kill the economy, and inflict even more pain on top of what’s already coming for Kiwi households, just to slay the dragon that little bit faster.

“In my opinion, forging ahead with any more OCR hikes at this point would be lunacy. “And I don’t think the RBNZ is run by lunatics.”

“To illustrate the point, in April 2021 the two-year fixed mortgage rate was 2.6%. Today it’s about 6.6%. On a $500,000 home loan, that’s another $384 per week to find, which adds up to about $20,000 per year.