The Reserve Bank has left its benchmark interest rate unchanged, as expected, and repeated rates will stay high for an extended period.

The official cash rate has been on hold at 5.5 percent since May and the bank says it has more work to do to get inflation under control.

The RBNZ says price pressures are easing and the economy is slowing, but there is still stubborn core inflation and uncertainty which rule out cuts any time soon.

Economists had expected the OCR to stay where it was, with inflation falling from last year's peak but at 5.6 percent, still well above the target range of 1-3 percent.