WELLINGTON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - 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.
It now views a projection of the official cash rate "as a more transparent way of presenting the expected policy actions needed to achieve its inflation target," it said in a statement. The projections will continue to be on a smoothed quarterly average basis.
The next monetary policy statement is due Nov. 10 and economists are widely expecting the central bank to cut the rate by 25 bps to a record low 1.75 as inflation remains well below the bank's 1 percent to 3 percent target range.
The central bank underscored that the change has no bearing on the way the bank conducts monetary policy.
"As with previous 90-day rate forecasts, projections for the official cash rate are conditional on the Bank's assessment of current economic conditions and assumptions about the future evolution of the New Zealand economy," it said.