Responding to comments from Treasury officials suggesting that returning the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to the single mandate could undermine faith in its political independence, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:

“RBNZ has failed for 29 months on the bounce to hit its inflation targets, and it is clear that Labour’s dual-mandate experiment has failed. Prices have been spiralling uncontrollably for years on end, and it is ordinary working Kiwis who have been made to suffer. This crippling instability is what undermines faith in the New Zealand economy.

“If Treasury officials were genuinely concerned about RBNZ’s political independence, then the time to raise this was when Labour decided to vandalise our world-leading system for their own political gain and not as New Zealand tries to return to the status quo.

“Retaining the Monetary Policy Committee is not an acceptable compromise. For far too long, Adrian Orr has been able to hide behind his lackeys and avoid any fallout for his failures, but it’s high time we returned some accountability to the top.”

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