This agreement between the Minister of Finance and the Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand ("the bank") is made under section 9 of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 1989 ("the Act").
The Minister and the Governor agree as follows:
1. Price Stability
(a) Under Section 8 of the Act, the Reserve Bank is required to conduct monetary policy with the goal of maintaining a stable general level of prices.
(b) The objective of the Government's economic policy is to promote sustainable and balanced economic development in order to create full employment, higher real incomes and a more equitable distribution of incomes. Price stability plays an important part in supporting the achievement of wider economic and social objectives.
2. Policy Target
(a) In pursuing the objective of a stable general level of prices, the bank shall monitor prices as measured
by a range of price indices. The price stability
target will be defined in terms of the All Groups Consumers Price Index (C.P.I.), as published by Statistics New Zealand.
(b) For the purpose of this agreement, the policy target shall be to keep future C.P.I. inflation outcomes between 1 per cent and 3 per cent on average over the medium term.
3. Inflation Variations Around Target
(a) For a variety of reasons, the actual annual rate of C.P.I. inflation will vary around the medium-term trend of inflation, which is the focus of the policy target. Amongst these reasons, there is a range of events whose impact would normally be temporary. Such events include, for example, shifts in the aggregate price level as a result of exceptional movements in the prices of commodities traded in world markets, changes in indirect taxes, significant government policy changes that directly affect prices, or a natural disaster affecting a major part of the economy.
(b) When disturbances of the kind described in clause 3 (a) arise, the bank will respond consistent with meeting its medium-term target.
4. Communication, Implementation and Accountability
(a) On occasions when the annual rate of inflation is outside the medium-term target range, or when such occasions are projected, the bank shall explain in policy statements made under section 15 of the Act why such outcomes have occurred, or are projected to occur, and what measures it has taken, or proposes to take, to ensure that inflation outcomes remain consistent with the medium-term target.
(b) In pursuing its price stability objective, the bank shall implement monetary policy in a sustainable, consistent and transparent manner and shall seek to avoid unnecessary instability in output, interest rates and the exchange rate.
(c) The bank shall be fully accountable for its judgements and actions in implementing monetary policy.
Dated at Wellington this 17th day of September 2002.
DR MICHAEL CULLEN, Minister of Finance.
Dr ALAN E. BOLLARD, Governor Designate, Reserve Bank of New Zealand.