WELLINGTON, Aug 18 (Reuters) - New Zealand’s central bank on Wednesday left interest rates unchanged at a record low of 0.25%, as the country was put into a snap lockdown following the detection of new coronavirus cases. A majority of economists polled by Reuters last week had expected the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) to increase the cash rate by 25 basis points, although some forecasts had changed overnight after the latest COVID-19 shakeup. (Reporting by Praveen Menon; editing by Shri Navaratnam) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.