New Zealand dollar hits fresh high

The New Zealand dollar hit a fresh high against the greenback Friday, prompting the country's central bank chief to say foreign exchange markets had misinterpreted forecasts released this week. The currency rose to 82.98 cents early Friday, the highest level since it was floated in 1985. The surge came after Reserve Bank of New Zealand governor Alan Bollard on Thursday released forecasts predicting stronger-than-expected economic growth of 4.4 percent in 12 months to March 2012. Releasing the data, Bollard also indicated interest rates could rise from a record low of 2.5 percent by year's end, a more hawkish stance than previous assessments the setting was "likely to remain appropriate for some time". Bollard attempted to dampen enthusiasm for the currency Friday, arguing the forecasts that the bank released were "bang on" with market expectations and did not justify the New Zealand dollar's subsequent rise. He added: "Markets have over-interpreted the desirable strength of the New Zealand dollar". "It does look like the markets have interpreted our forecasts of the economy as a little bit stronger than they had expected," Bollard told Radio New Zealand. "I'm a little bit surprised by this." The currency eased to US 82.46 cents after Bollard's comments.