Bank will webcast future MPS news conferences

29 November 2007

Reserve Bank will webcast future MPS news conferences

The Reserve Bank today announced that it will be webcasting future Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) news conferences live on the Bank's website.

The Bank has trialled webcasting its news conferences as a means of ensuring its messages on monetary policy and financial stability are accessible to wider domestic and international audiences.

Following the Bank's webcast trial of the September 2007 MPS news conference, the Bank conducted a brief survey with external audiences to assess the success of the webcast. There was a resounding positive response: 90 percent of respondents found the webcast useful and 89 percent would watch the webcasts again.

Given the success of the webcast trials, the Sky TV broadcast for New Zealand viewers will be discontinued.

Broadcast details for Thursday 6 December 2007 MPS

Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard will begin speaking shortly after the 9.00am announcement. The news conference will last approximately 20-30 minutes.

The website address for the webcast will be: http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/monpol/statements/3105936.html. The links on this page will not be active until the webcast on 6 December 2007.

To ensure that you will be able to access the webcast, you should verify that you can successfully log-on beforehand. You can do this by visiting the page above and reading the instructions under "Test your connection". Software and system requirements to view the webcast are also detailed on this page.

Performance of the webcast is dependent on the quality of the viewer's internet connection on the day. Viewers will be able to select high, medium or low video quality or alternatively audio-only. Access guidelines are provided on the Bank's website.

Archive footage will be on the Bank's website within 45 minutes of the broadcast.

ENDS

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