Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee to have votes made public when consensus over Official Cash Rate decisions isn’t reached, members encouraged to share individual views as new charter comes into effect

The Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will make their votes publicly available when consensus is not reached over Official Cash Rate (OCR) decisions, and it will also be publishing instances where members have major differences of opinion in its records of meetings.

This comes as the RBNZ and Finance Minister Nicola Willis agreed to these changes through a new charter, which kicks in on Thursday.

"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," Reserve Bank (RBNZ) Governor Anna Breman said.

Since her appointment as RBNZ Governor last year, Breman has made it clear that transparency would be a top priority. She has also been previously asked about the potential for votes being made public, touching on this at a Finance and Expenditure Committee meeting in December.

According to the RBNZ, the new charter makes it easier for MPC members to publicly share their views on the economic outlook and monetary policy strategy. And members would be encouraged to communicate these views externally.

Not only will votes be attributed to members, but the MPC plans to attribute “material differences of view or judgement” and this would occur even when there is consensus over an OCR decision, the RBNZ said.

“Monetary policy transparency is important as it ensures that central banks remain accountable to the public and credible in their decisions," Breman said.

“The changes to the charter further enhance the transparency of monetary policy decision-making at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.”

Breman said this was part of a wider effort to increase transparency, with the RBNZ already introducing press conferences at all monetary policy reviews, adding an extra annual monetary policy review, and increased public outreach.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis said this is part of a new charter for the RBNZ's MPC, which would strengthen its transparency and accountability by making the views of individual members clearer.

Willis said the MPC would review these changes along with its wider decision-making processes and in 12 months, it would report back on their effectiveness and whether they support clear communication and transparency.

The new charter will be in effect for the Monetary Policy Statement on May 27. In April, the RBNZ held the OCR at 2.25%.