15 February 2001

Monetary Policy Statement press conference live on Sky Television

The Reserve Bank and Sky Television today announced that Reserve Bank Governor Don Brash's press conference at the release of the next Monetary Policy Statement will be broadcast live in New Zealand on SKY Television's CNBC news channel.

The broadcast, on SKY's digital satellite network, will take place between 9.00 am and 9.30 am on 14 March 2001 and will be produced by Mr Richard Harman of Front Page Films and Television.

Reserve Bank Corporate Affairs Manager Paul Jackman said "The purpose of this SKY broadcast is to make the nuances connected with the release of the next Monetary Policy Statement immediately available to financial market participants and others with an interest in the details of these announcements.

"Previously the Reserve Bank attempted to achieve this through broadcasting Dr Brash's press conferences live on the Bank's website. This was technically successful in that the webcast occurred, but we found that too many institutions were unable to receive the webcast because of firewall difficulties.

"The use of digital television is another way to achieve the same goal, and should assist a more in-depth understanding of the Reserve Bank's actions and the reasoning behind those actions," Mr Jackman concluded.

SKY Television Chief Executive Officer John Fellet said "We are pleased to be involved with the broadcast of the MPS press conference and look forward to working again with the Reserve Bank in the future."

For further information contact
Paul Jackman
Corporate Affairs Manager
Ph 04 471 3671, 021 497 418, home 04 938 8177, Jackmanp@rbnz.govt.nz

Tony O'Brien
Director of Communications
SKY Television
Ph 09 579 9999. 025 978 309, tobrien@skytv.co.nz