WELLINGTON (Oct 25): New Zealand's central bank said on Tuesday its monetary policy statements will now include projections for the official cash rate as opposed to the 90-day bank bill rate, guidance economists said will help make the policy outlook clearer. Up until now, the 90-day bank bill rate has been considered a proxy for the official cash rate as it "typically moves in a consistent manner with the official cash rate," the bank said. The monetary policy statement contained a quarterly forecast for the 90-day bank bill over a 4-year projection period. Economists said an official cash rate projection is less ambiguous. ANZ Senior Economist Philip Borkin said the move to use the official cash rate "removes a bit of ambiguity but doesn't change what the message is going to be."

Source: The Edge Markets October 25, 2016 00:00 UTC