The Reserve Bank has put some Christmas cheer amid the financial doom and gloom by slashing the official cash rate.
The bank has pushed official interest rates to their lowest level in five years, cutting them by a remarkable 1.5 percentage points to 5%.
At the start of this year the rate was at a record-high 8.25%, but since July it has been slashed in an effort to make life easier during tough times.
Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard is keen to spread the goodwill, telling banks to drop their interest rates and not hoard profits.
"Really all these institutions need to share some of the pain and some of the need to pass on the easier conditions," says Bollard.
Within hours, rates at most banks came tumbling down, and experts say there is more to come.
"Most people are saying it could drop to 4%, now we're at 5%, so we could see some more small reductions through 2009," says Bernard Hickey, Interest rate commentator.
The Reserve Bank's move is ultimately designed to pump more money into New Zealand's flagging economy.
On top of tax cuts and falling fuel prices, it should give Kiwis a breather.
But Bollard is more optimistic than most commentators and thinks New Zealand's recession is already over.
No one will know if he is right until official statistics come out later, but the country could be in a period of very modest economic growth, instead of going backwards.
