New Zealand's central bank kept interest rates steady on Wednesday and tempered market expectations for a hawkish pivot, stressing that monetary settings needed to stay easy to support a fragile economic recovery. Wrapping up its first meeting chaired by Governor Anna Breman, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand kept its benchmark official cash rate unchanged at 2.25%, as expected. While it brought its forecast for its first rate hike to around year-end from mid-2027 in its November forecast, that was still more dovish than earlier market pricing for a first rate hike around September or October.