Calls for the Reserve Bank to delay next week's Official Cash Rate increase.

The Monetary Policy Committee is expected to raise interest rates by at least 50 basis points on Wednesday.

The OCR already sits at a high 4.25 percent, in a bid to cool New Zealand's stubborn 7.2 percent inflation rate.

But Kiwibank chief economist Jarrod Kerr says in the middle of a national emergency, now is not the time.

He says the decision should be postponed until April, when we have a better handle on the economic cost of Cyclone Gabrielle, although Kiwibank estimates it could be up to $10 billion dollars.

LISTEN ABOVE

• Infometrics Principal Economist: Cyclone Gabrielle will likely cost the economy billions
• Thames Coromandel District Council CEO describes Gabrielle's impact as 'carnage'
• Ground Zero: Eskdale family returns to a home buried by a flood