22 August 2023 – Wellington’s Scots College has been named the national winner of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s 2023 Monetary Policy Challenge. Second place was awarded to Christchurch’s St Andrew’s College and honourable mentions were given to both of Auckland’s Kristin School teams.
The RBNZ’s Monetary Policy Challenge gives secondary school senior economic students all over New Zealand the opportunity to address and engage with the monetary policy decisions facing the country.
Seventeen teams participated in this year’s Monetary Policy Challenge. Video submissions were judged by RBNZ Chief Economist Paul Conway, Economic Advisor Marea Sing, and Analyst Andre Castaing.
The judges were impressed by the wide range of views expressed by this year’s participants and the creative thinking that was shown when considering the risks to the New Zealand economy. Paul Conway said, “we were particularly impressed with the careful analysis of the medium-term upside and downside risks to the New Zealand economy displayed by this year’s participants”.
The judges were especially captivated with the explanation of the impact of migration and the description of the current account shown by Scots College.
The Scots College team has been invited to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to watch the November Financial Stability Report (FSR) media conference with Governor Adrian Orr, meet with senior decision-makers, and see first-hand how economic theory is put into practice.
This year we also ran a webinar for students where the judging panel discussed the May Monetary Policy Statement, what it’s like working in economics and answered a range of student’s questions. You can watch the webinar here.
https://govt.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=bd316aa7ee4f5679c56377819&id=61ba4cfc70&e=f3c68946f8
Students presented their answers to the question: “When do you think the Official Cash Rate (OCR) will move from 5.5%? In which direction do you think it will move and why?” in a short video. The Monetary Policy Challenge is open to all New Zealand secondary school senior economic students.
Watch Scots College’s winning Monetary Policy Challenge submission below.
