Source: Radio New Zealand
Reserve Bank governor Anna Breman has pushed for a more open central bank since starting the role at the end of last year. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The Reserve Bank’s influential rate-setting body is improving its transparency in a move that will see members’ voting decisions made public.
The changes were announced on Thursday after the Monetary Policy Committee and the Minister of Finance agreed to the updates.
The new charter will make it easier for Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members to publicly share their views, and when a vote takes place, their votes will be attributed.
Previously, in cases of a split decision, members’ votes were kept under wraps.
Reserve Bank governor Anna Breman, who has pushed for a more open central bank since starting the role in December 2025, said the updated charter would enhance transparency and support accountability.
“These changes make it easier for MPC members to communicate their individual views and brings us in line with some of the most transparent central banks in the world,” Dr Breman said.
The changes will be in effect for the May monetary policy statement.
The charter also reconfirmed that the decision-making process should focus on seeking consensus where possible.
The RBNZ said MPC members would be encouraged to communicate their views on economic outlook and monetary policy publicly.
It said as well as revealing members’ votes, the committee would attribute “material differences of view or judgement within the committee”, even if consensus were to be reached.
“Monetary policy transparency is important as it ensures that central banks remain accountable to the public and credible in their decisions,” Dr Breman said.
“This is part of a wider effort to increase transparency where the Reserve Bank has already introduced press conferences at Monetary Policy Reviews, moved to eight monetary policy meetings per year, and increased public outreach and external communications.”
The RBNZ said there would be a review of the charter in 12 months’ time.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
