The RBNZ Deputy Gov. Geoff Bascand is on the wires saying:
- central bankers must continue to look forward to guard against the unpredictable
- confident our financial stability approach has strengthened the foundations; are more solid
- still work to do to strengthen regulated entities resilience and compliance
- next 10 year is likely to see greater concentration on efficiency, industry dynamics and how financial institutions meet customer needs
- insurance affordability and risk-based pricing, open banking and digital money are dynamic challenges sector and regulatory's will face
- RBNZs job is to limit financial stability risks and keep overall inflation under control
- RBNZ should not be held responsible for housing market
- RBNZ can lean against house prices by increasing costs and restricting availability of credit
Meanwhile, RBNZ assistant governor Hawkesby is saying:
- long-term inflation expectations remain anchored, but short term ones that have increased
- will take a considered steps for now
- predicts unemployment rate to drift up to about 4%
- more confidence that labor market is tight, that will build inflation pressures
- more confidence that labor market is tight, that will build inflation pressures
- currency is in broad range of where it's expected to be
- higher currency in short-term will help us achieve our objectives more quickly
The RBNZ has tighten the policy twice with the last increase coming on November 23. The central bank raise the official cash rate (OCR) by 25 basis points to 0.75%. That was the final policy meeting of the year. At the time the RBNZ said that further stimulus easing may be needed and the OCR may go above its neutral rate. The bank estimated that he OCR rate could reach 2.5% by 2023.
Inflation at 4.9% in the third quarter. That was the fastest pace in over a decade. The jobless rate fell to 3.4% matching the lowest on record from December 2007. Housing prices have also doubled over the past seven years.
