ANZ bins OCR forecast

The country’s largest bank is no longer forecasting the Reserve Bank will cut the official cash rate belowzero this year. ANZ reiterated its forecast yesterday that the central bank would trim the OCR to 0.1 per cent in May, from its current level of 0.25 per cent. But chief economist Sharon Zollner said it was no longer predicting a further rate cut in August to take the cash rate into negative territory. The bank said the May rate cut that it was still factoring-in might not be necessary, but made ‘‘strategic sense’’ as things stood. ‘‘If the housingmarket and domestic economy maintains momentum well into autumn, the Reserve Bank will not cut again at all,’’ it said. ‘‘... But on balance, the scales are still tipped towards one more cut.’’