New Zealand Central Bank Cuts Interest Rate to 3%

New Zealand Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard on Thursday announced a cut of the country's official interest rate to 3 percent from 3.5 percent.

The cut of 50 basis points in the official cash rate (OCR) takes the overall reduction to 525 basis points in little more than six months as the global economy deteriorates rapidly.

In a statement, the central bank governor warned that the timing and extent of global recovery remain "highly uncertain" .

Bollard indicated that the days of big cuts to the OCR are now over.

The New Zealand dollar, which firmed in trading ahead of the OCR announcement, rose to 51.17 U.S. cents within 15 minutes -- compared with 50.58 cents at 8 a.m. local time.