WELLINGTON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) held rates as expected at 0.25% on Wednesday and said additional monetary stimulus was needed to meet its consumer price inflation and employment remit.

Economists in a Reuters poll had unanimously expected the RBNZ to hold rates.

The bank also launched a funding-for-lending programme for banks that will commence in December and retained its large scale asset purchase (LSAP) programme at NZ$100 billion ($66.32 billion). (Reporting by Praveen Menon; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)