WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s central bank will leave monetary policy unchanged this week but could start to raise rates later this year, according to a Reuters poll, following recent data that showed rising inflationary pressures and a tightening labour market. All economists polled by Reuters expect the Reserve Bank of New Zealand( RBNZ) to hold the official cash rate( OCR) tomorrow at a record low of 0.25%, where it has been since a pandemic-driven cut in March last year. But at least a quarter o

WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s central bank will opt for a modest 25-basis-point interest rate rise on April 13, but is set to raise by slightly more this year as a whole than previously thought to head off rapidly-rising inflation, according to a Reuters poll of economists. The survey puts the Reserve Bank of New Zealand( RBNZ), which has already raised rates by a quarter point at each of its past three policy meetings, in a slightly more dovish mode than the US Federal Reserve, which is set to lift

VATICAN CITY( Reuters)-Outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday the response to climate change would require a radical change in how people live as she met Pope Francis during a farewell visit to the Vatican and Italy. Francis and other religious leaders made a joint appeal on Monday for next month's U.N. Climate Change Conference COP26 to offer concrete solutions to save the planet from" an unprecedented ecological crisis". Merkel praised the pope's position.... Peter's Basili

WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s central bank raised interest rates for the first time in seven years and signaled further increases will likely be needed to tame inflation. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s( RBNZ) Monetary Policy Committee, led by governor Adrian Orr, lifted the official cash rate by a quarter percentage point to 0.5% yesterday in Wellington, as expected by most economists. Policy makers said they see the economy recovering quickly once a lockdown in largest city Auckland is eased.“ T

" Nurses are burning out, they are getting sick themselves and are constantly worried that they will make mistakes that could affect their patients." The hospitality sector has been similarly stretched.... The country's unemployment rate is at pre-Covid levels, with more jobs than skilled workers.... The underutilization rate, a measure of how many people are working less than they would like, is at a record low. The labour shortages are pushing up costs as employers pay more to keep staff....

Subscribe to our channel for the latest updates on Russia’s war in Ukraine.... The result was a nearly 500-page report released in February — similar to audits elsewhere in Europe and the Americas — that determined at least 4, 815 children had been abused since 1950.... The bishops commended “ this difficult and dramatic work ” and expressed hope that it “ marks a new beginning.” Maryland AG releases report on alleged Catholic clergy sex abuseCritics say that commitment was mostly for show....