Monetary policy has an important, but limited, role to play in providing a reasonably stable backdrop for real economic activity. Against that standard, the flexible inflation targeting approach that has guided New Zealand’s monetary policy for over 20 years served the country relatively well...

This article analyses New Zealand’s economic expansion from 1998 to 2007, the contraction that followed in 2008-09, and the gradual recovery thereafter. The expansion was long and large by the country’s post-war standards, while the contraction was marginally longer but shallower than the...

Foreign-owned banks play an important role in New Zealand’s financial system. This article discusses the Reserve Bank’s local-incorporation policy, which is one of the key elements in the policy framework to minimise the risks and maximise the benefits of hosting foreign-owned banks. The...