Economists are trying to read between the lines of the Reserve Bank's latest decision on the Official Cash Rate.

The central bank has hiked the OCR by another 50 basis points to 3.5 percent.

Some of its comments have left the market in no doubt that it's taking a tougher, more hawkish, stance on inflation.

Former Reserve Bank economist  Michael Reddell told Tim Dower the comments are interesting.

“They clearly are concerned about inflation, they should be, it’s really important we get on top of things. The big issue is how much of a tightening in total is needed to get there.”

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