New Zealand Dollar Slides Ahead of Election

2026-11-06 02:34 By Judith Sib-at 1 min. read

The New Zealand dollar dropped to $0.556 on Friday, reaching its lowest level since April 2025 as investors braced for the general election on Saturday.

Polls show the governing centre-right National Party and opposition centre-left Labour Party neck and neck, with neither having a clear path to victory.

This has raised concerns over potentially prolonged coalition negotiations and uncertainty surrounding the next government’s economic and fiscal policies.

With neither major party outlining concrete measures to stem the currency’s decline, traders expect the kiwi to remain under pressure.

The kiwi has fallen more than 3% so far this year, making it one of the worst-performing G10 currencies amid sluggish economic growth and a soft labour market.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s unexpected split decision to leave its official cash rate unchanged last week has further clouded the policy outlook and added to the currency’s woes.



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