Foreword from the Governor and Deputy Governor
At Te Pūtea Matua, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, we are kaitiaki (guardians) of New Zealand’s financial ecosystem, working to enable stability, economic wellbeing and prosperity for all New Zealanders.
We are pleased to see economic activity in New Zealand returning to its pre-COVID-19 levels, supported by ongoing favourable domestic health outcomes, and improving global demand and higher prices for New Zealand’s goods and exports. A catch-up in consumer spending and construction activity, supported by substantial monetary and fiscal stimulus is underpinning employment growth.
However, vulnerabilities still remain and the recovery needs continued monetary and fiscal support. We are mindful of our mandate, including maintaining low and stable consumer price inflation while contributing to maximum sustainable employment, and our role promoting and maintaining a sound and efficient financial system. We are working closely with the government, the Treasury and other partners, including the Council of Financial Regulators, to ensure that our actions are coordinated where it is beneficial to do so. As long as COVID-19 is contained and the global and economic recovery is sustained, eventually economic policy settings can be expected to normalise over the medium term.
As the world changes, so do we. We are undergoing significant legislative change that will alter how we operate and regulate the financial system in coming years. We are preparing for the implementation of the new Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act—the legislation that underpins our purpose and how we operate. The Act is a key part of our extensive transformation and includes a new statutory Governance Board commencing in 2022. Transition arrangements are expected to commence later this year.
In addition, the new Deposit Takers Act, when passed in 2023, will broaden the scope of our role and modernise the way we regulate. It will unify the banking and non-banking deposit‑taking regimes, introduce a deposit insurance scheme, and provide us with new powers and mechanisms to steward the financial system.
As New Zealand’s central bank, we are working to become a more diverse, inclusive and representative organisation. We play an active leadership role through Te Waka Hourua, our Te Ao Māori strategy and are building diversity and inclusion into everything we do.
We are taking action to understand and mitigate the risks from climate change to financial stability, and working to make Pacific remittances more accessible, safe and cost effective. We are deepening our understanding of the distributional impacts of our monetary policy actions on overall economic wellbeing, and working with our regulatory partners to support FinTech innovation in New Zealand. We also recognise that the way we access and spend our money continues to evolve and are exploring the broader future of money in Aotearoa.
We are continuing to invest in our people, processes and systems through our Transformation Programme. This includes ensuring that Te Pūtea Matua is a place where our people can thrive through continual learning and an inclusive culture. As set out in our five-year funding agreement, we require multiple years of significant systems investment to achieve operational excellence. We are also reviewing our corporate policies to ensure that they are robust and reflect our culture and operating environment.
Together, these investments and our overall transformation, will build capability for the future, ensuring that we are a robust and active cornerstone of New Zealand’s economy.
You may notice that this year’s Statement of Intent has a different look. We have updated our brand to better reflect our purpose and the work we do with our partners on behalf of all New Zealanders. This is the first significant change to our branding since our foundation and signals our commitment to being relevant, open and inclusive as your central bank.
We encourage you to read this Statement of Intent, understand our goals and join us on our journey to being ‘A Great Team, Best Central Bank’.
We are here to support you, and all New Zealanders, through ensuring a sound and dynamic monetary and financial system, now and into the future.