RBNZ says it remains 'fiercely independent'

The Kākā by Bernard Hickey · Aug 28, 2025 · 17m

Just briefly, RBNZ Chief Economist Paul Conway talks in the interview above about the central bank's meetings with politicians and how it remains "fiercely independent." Governments that interfere in monetary policy get higher inflation, he said.

Also, Conway said:

* The RBNZ was doing a ‘mini-review’ of whether it should have taken a more moderate approach to hiking interest rates in the current cycle, similar to that adopted by the Reserve Bank of Australia, which hiked 425 basis points in 2022 and 20223, while the RBNZ hiked 525 basis points between late 2021 and May 2023;

* He thought it…