Finance Minister Nicola Willis.
Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
Finance Minister Nicola Willis is urging the previous Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr to front up to the inquiry into the economic responses to Covid-19.
The government announced the independent review on Wednesday, saying it would identify key lessons from the spike in inflation and house prices.
The central bank’s actions – including official cash rate cuts and money printing – as well as its interaction with government policy, will all be in scope.
Willis said it was up to Orr whether he appeared, but had a message for him.
“Put New Zealand’s interests at the heart of your decision,” she said.
“It’s in New Zealand’s interests that you are candid about the decisions the Reserve Bank made in response to the Covid pandemic so that our country can learn from any mistakes that you made.”
Willis said she would still be going ahead with the inquiry whether Orr was still governor or not.
“Yes. I first sought advice on the shape of a potential inquiry when we first came into government. The decision I made at that time was to first focus on the legislating of a singular inflation-fighting target; the renegotiation of a funding agreement,” she said.
“At the point of Adrian Orr’s resignation, which occurred of course just a few months into our term as government, I determined it wouldn’t be appropriate while we were recruiting for a new governor to initiate the review, but the appointment of Dr Anna Breman has provided an appropriate juncture.”
Previous Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr’s resignation came more than a year after the government took office.
Photo: RNZ / Dom Thomas
Opposition parties have criticised the timing of the review – with the findings set to be released in September, just weeks before the 7 November election – labelling it a politically motivated hit-job and an attack on the central bank’s independence.
Willis said the reviewers – former Cyprus central banker Athanasios Orphanides and former RBNZ assistant governor David Archer – would be travelling to New Zealand to carry out their work including conducting interviews.
They would have access to all Reserve Bank information, she said, and she expected it would also look at wealth inequality.
Orr led the bank during the pandemic but resigned unexpectedly last March over a lack of funding for the central bank.
His resignation came more than a year after the government took office.
Messy handling of his exit later led chair Neil Quigley to resign too, putting Willis under pressure over what she knew and when.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.