The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) maintained the interest rate at 3.25% as expected, projecting inflation to rise to the upper limit of the 1-3% target range by mid-year. However, due to excess productive capacity in the economy and waning domestic inflationary pressures, overall inflation is forecast to remain within the current range and return to approximately 2% by early next year. Following the announcement of the interest rate decision, the NZD hiked 0.2% during the Asian session, trading at 0.6006 against the USD.