New Zealand Reserve Bank holds rates at 5.5 per cent

Governor Adrian Orr said there was little doubt that interest rates will stay "at restrictive levels for the foreseeable future" to rein in inflation.

Headline inflation, as measured by the Consumers Price Index (CPI), is at six per cent, down from a high of 7.3 per cent.

Alongside its updated OCR, the RBNZ published its quarterly monetary policy statement on Wednesday, including updated OCR tracking suggesting one more hike was possible.

A peak OCR of 5.6 per cent is forecast through to September 2024, when the CPI is next tipped to return to the target band of 1-3 per cent, at 2.7 per cent.

Economists are split on the next future direction of the OCR, and whether further tightening may be required to cool Kiwi prices.

Alongside its updated OCR, the RBNZ published its quarterly monetary policy statement on Wednesday, which suggested one more hike was possible.

"In the near term, there is a risk that activity and inflation measures do not slow as much as expected," Mr Orr said.

"Over the medium term, a greater slowdown in global economic demand, particularly in China, could weigh more on commodity prices and overall New Zealand export revenue."

Fresh numbers from the Global Dairy Trade auction, held overnight, show that risk to the Kiwi economy, with prices slumping by 7.4 per cent.

The price for whole milk powder, a major Kiwi export, fell by 10.9 per cent, to US$2548 ($A3956) a tonne, its lowest price since 2018.

"It's not pretty. There is no point trying to gild the lily," JMI Wealth director Andrew Kelleher told Newstalk ZB.

The Reserve Bank has also published revisions to its economic forecasts.

NZ is in a technical recession after booking negative GDP growth in the past two reported quarters of 0.7 and 0.1 per cent.

The central bank forecasts a return to growth of 0.5 per cent in the June quarter, but a shallow double-dip recession to round out the calendar year with 0.3 and 0.1 per cent contractions.