ASB is lowering a key home loan rate, just a day before the Reserve Bank is due to review the Official Cash Rate

The bank is reducing its 18-month fixed home loan lending rate by 26 basis points -- from 7.15 percent to 6.89 percent -- the lowest among the major banks.

ASB Personal Banking Executive General Manager Adam Boyd says it's a competitive rate -- with wholesale rates remaining elevated and the geopolitical environment remaining volatile.

Most economists now expect the OCR to remain unchanged at 5.5 percent.

However, the country's largest bank, ANZ, is continuing to forecast 25-basis point rise tomorrow and again in April, and won't rule out further rises.