On 25 February 2021 the Minister of Finance issued a direction to the Reserve Bank under section 68B of the Reserve Bank Act 1989 requiring the Bank to have regard to government policy on housing in relation to its financial policy functions.
In the letter to the Governor of the Reserve Bank which accompanied the direction, the Minister of Finance also outlined a replacement remit for the Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). The replacement remit does not change the objectives of the MPC; it requires the MPC to assess the impacts of its decisions on the Government’s housing objective.