“New Zealanders are struggling with high prices, rising interest rates, and no end in sight to either. After an hour before the Finance and Expenditure Committee, Adrian Orr refused to accept the Reserve Bank got anything wrong, couldn’t say when inflation would return to normal, and blamed everyone but himself," says ACT Leader and Finance spokesperson David Seymour.

“It’s time to replace hubris with humility and have a bank that accepts it massively overstimulated the economy, causing consumer price inflation, asset price inflation, inequality, and now higher interest rates.

“Not only would it be respectful to all those Kiwis struggling with the costs of economic mismanagement, a little humility from Orr might open up a culture of learning rather than defensiveness.

“Unfortunately defensiveness is all we get from our Governor. The Reserve Bank demanded commercial banks hold more capital after its Capital Review in 2019. As soon as we had one they delayed the changes until 2021. Today Adrian Orr argues we have the most stable financial system on the planet, but the changes are still necessary and will come in to force over the next six years. He is incapable of accepting a mistake.

“In reality the Reserve Bank cut interest rates too much in March 2020, printed far too much money through the Large Scale Asset Purchase Program, created an enormous housing bubble, and now the biggest threat to financial stability is the collapse of the bubble and runaway inflation it created.

“Until the Governor admits he got it wrong, we will never move forward, that is one reason New Zealand needs a new Reserve Bank Governor."

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