The Reserve Bank has poured cold water over growing speculation for an early rates cut this year.

In a webinar delivered to the public, RBNZ chief economist Paul Conway said non-tradeable inflation came in higher than predicted, at 5.9 percent.

HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham says it's likely the RBNZ won't cut the OCR until the fourth quarter of 2024.

"The economy has slowed a lot and inflation is coming down, but as Conway pointed out, inflation is still too high- it's well above target."

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