Christian Hawkesby: Kia ora koutou katoa.
This week we released our latest Financial Stability report. We found that New Zealand's financial system remains strong as it adjusts to a higher interest rate environment.
The full impact of previous interest rate increases globally is still to be seen.
Here in Aotearoa New Zealand, households continue to face higher mortgage repayments.
So far, the vast majority of borrowers have been able to manage these increases, but we know that people are struggling and there has been an increase in those falling behind.
Businesses continue to service their debt, although the dairy and commercial property sectors are facing challenges particularly due to high debt servicing costs and some other factors.
Overall, our assessment is that New Zealand's financial system is strong and well-placed to handle both current adjustment and more severe economic scenarios.
Importantly, this means that our financial institutions are well positioned to take a long term perspective and support their customers through the current and potential future challenges.
Ngā mihi ki a koutou.
