The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has left the official cash rate unchanged at its record low of 1.75 per cent and says it won't be moving "for some time to come".

Delivering his first rates decision and monetary policy statement, the central bank's new governor Adrian Orr confirmed the widely-tipped rate hold, and said the next move could be in either direction.

"We expect to keep the OCR (official cash rate) at this expansionary level for a considerable period of time," Mr Orr said in a statement.

"The direction of our next move is equally balanced, up or down. Only time and events will tell."

The Reserve Bank noted it expected New Zealand's consumer price inflation to gradually rise to its two per cent annual target, and is still forecasting a late 2019 start to OCR increases - although a quarter later.

The rate has been unchanged since November 2016.

Bank analysts have noted the statement on Thursday reflected a more direct style than that of Mr Orr's predecessor.

"The defining feature of Adrian Orr's first monetary policy statement is the clarity of the message," BNZ Head of Research Stephen Toplis said.

"Instead of having to flounder through screeds of mumblings to find out what the bank really thinks, the message is up front."

The statement included the Maori greeting "Tena koutou, katoa, welcome all", a change from the generally sedate tone of the bank's recent output.

During his closely watched maiden press conference, Mr Orr also brought a more conversational style, saying keeping the rate on hold was "the easiest decision" he had made in more than a decade, but noting "the hard part is what to do next".

New Zealand's government in March moved to change the central bank's mandate from just its historical role of controlling inflation to also take employment levels into consideration.