WELLINGTON, Feb 12 Reuters New Zealand39;s top central banker on Monday said the inflation challenge was still not over and cited broad financial pressure for retaining a restrictive monetary policy position.

Reserve Bank of New Zealand RBNZ Governor Adrian Orr, appearing before a parliamentary committee, said the current inflation rate at 4.7 was still too high and that the board39;s aim was to continue to slow it down to around 2.

That39;s why we39;ve retained a restrictive monetary policy stance with the official cash rate at 5.5 and we39;ll be back at the end of this month again with our updated views on the wisdom of that stance, Orr told lawmakers.

Since the bank39;s last interest rate decision at the end of November, inflation has eased slightly but the market has reduced expectations of nearterm interest rate cuts following a surprisingly firm set of local jobs data last week.

The bank is due to meet at the end of the month.

The RBNZ, which has ruled out rate cuts until 2025 at the earliest, was one of the first central banks to withdraw pandemicera monetary stimulus and has lifted rates by 525 basis points since October 2021 to curb inflation.

The inflation rate, while below historic highs, is well above RBNZ39;s target band of 1 to 3.

Deputy Governor Christian Hawkesby told the committee that the financial system remained strong and consumers were in a good position to allow for higher interest rates.

While it has been three months since the bank39;s…