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Finance Minister Grant Robertson is speaking to the media in response to the Reserve Bank keeping the official cash rate, which influences commercial bank interest rates, at 0.25 percent.
The Reserve Bank in recent weeks had been expected to reduce the official cash rate as the economy performed well, but after COVID-19 cases were identified in the community this week and the country went into lockdown, commercial banks changed their expectations.
Commentators say the Reserve Bank has done the right thing, having "recognised it would be a mistake to put further pressure on the economy while we deal with the lockdown".
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