First Reserve Bank Bulletin for 2012 released

NEWS RELEASE
Date 30 March 2012

Reserve Bank Bulletin released

The Reserve Bank today released the first issue of the Reserve Bank Bulletin for 2012 (www.rbnz.govt.nz/research/bulletin/2007_2011/dec2011bulletin.html).

The Bank’s prudential supervisory role has seen major change over the last five years, particularly since the Bank took on regulation of the non-bank deposit taking and insurance sectors. The Bulletin’s first article outlines the evolution of this area of the Bank, including looking at the impact that the Canterbury earthquakes and recent financial crises have had on this function.

From here, the March Bulletin steps back in history. The second article reviews New Zealand’s economic developments over the turbulent period since 1998. While there was a long period of relatively good economic times, there have also been periods of little or no sustained growth over this time. This article also looks at the imbalances that have carried through this period.

The third article reviews the ways that monetary policy and governance provisions have evolved since the Reserve Bank was established in 1934. Reserve Bank Act provisions for operational autonomy around agreed monetary policy targets have been stable now for more than 20 years. However, earlier decades were less settled in this respect.

The Bulletin’s final article also takes us back to the 1930s – this time to the New Zealand Debt Conversion Act of 1933. New Zealand went into the Great Depression highly indebted, and this piece explains the legislation used to reduce the cost of the government’s debt.

ENDS

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