New Zealand’s central bank is prepared to raise interest rates if economic developments mean current policy settings aren’t restrictive enough to bring inflation back to target, Assistant Governor Karen Silk said. “There are risks still to the upside in the near term” and the bank is “absolutely” prepared to act if they were to “come to fruition in a meaningful way,” Silk said in an interview Friday in Wellington. “Right now we are saying that the level of restrictiveness is there, but we are awake at the wheel.” The Reserve Bank left the Official Cash Rate at 5.5% this week but surprised markets by saying it ... (full story)