20 June 2024
Sarah Allison
[FYI request #26793 email]
Dear Sarah
Thank you for your request of 14 May 2024 to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand – Te Pūtea Matua
(RBNZ) made under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) as follows:
Has the Bank produced any insights (or reports, modelling, analysis) into the impact of
higher interest rates on those who hold financial assets (including bank deposits)? Have
higher interest rates seen those with assets benefit? To what extent?
On 21 May 2024, you agreed to refine the request to:
Has the Bank produced any insights (or reports, modelling, analysis) since November 2021
into the impact of higher interest rates on those who hold financial assets (including bank
deposits)? Have higher interest rates seen those with assets benefit? To what extent?
Response
The RBNZ is committed to increasing our public transparency and, where possible, making our
information readily available to the people of New Zealand. The releasable information in scope of
your request is already publicly available on the RBNZ website.
As such, we are declining your request in full under the following sections of the OIA:
18(d), as the information requested is, or will soon be, publicly available.
Please note that Item 1, listed in the table below, is a discussion paper that is being
prepared for publication and will be available on the RBNZ’s website in August 2024. All
other documents withheld under section 18(d) are publicly available and links have been
provided to their location on the RBNZ’s website.
9(2)(d), to avoid prejudice to the substantial economic interests of New Zealand.
The information withheld under section 9(2)(d) was prepared for the Monetary Policy
Committee in the lead up to monetary policy decisions and, in this context, release may
have unintended and distortionary effects on financial markets. In making our decision to
withhold under section 9(2)(d), we have considered the public interest considerations in
section 9(1) of the OIA.
Ref #21320545 v1.0
Table 1: Documents in scope of your request
Item Document / information
Action
Link
description
1.
Discussion paper on the
s 18(d)
N/A
passthrough of OCR to interest
rates
2.
MPS/MPR forecast week papers s 9(2)(d) N/A
3.
Financial Sustainability Report:
18(d)
www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/publications/financial-
Update on the financial strain
stability-report/2024/may-2024/fsr-may-24-
faced by households and
special-topic-1
businesses
4.
Effects of the Funding for
18(d)
www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/publications/analytical-
Lending Programme (FLP) on
note/2022/rafimp
funding costs and mortgage
rates
5.
Monetary Policy Easing and the
18(d)
www.rbnz.govt.nz/-
Distribution of Wealth in New
/media/project/sites/rbnz/files/publications/analytic
Zealand
al-notes/2022/an2022-01.pdf
6.
Housing (Still) Matters – The Big 18(d)
www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/publications/speech/2022/s
Picture
peech2022-06-30
7.
How does monetary policy affect 18(d)
www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/publications/analytical-
the New Zealand housing
note/2022/an2022-09
market through the credit
channel? [analytical note]
8.
Housing Supply, House Prices,
18(d)
www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/publications/analytical-
and Monetary Policy [analytical
note/2022/an2022-08
note]
9.
New Zealand House Prices and
18(d)
www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/publications/analytical-
the Decline in Longer-Term
note/2022/an2022-10
Financing Costs [analytical note]
10.
Monetary Policy Statements
18(d)
www.rbnz.govt.nz/monetary-policy/monetary-
policy-statement/monetary-policy-statement-
filtered-listing-
page#sort=%40computedsortdate%20descending
We have also identified several documents that are outside the scope of your request due to
timeframe, but that contain information related to the subject of your request. Links to these
documents are provided in Table 2 below.
2
Table 2: Other information
Document / information
Action
Link
description
Funding cost pass-through to
18(d)
www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/publications/analytical-
mortgage rates
note/2018/an2018-02
Monetary Policy Pass-Through
18(d)
www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/publications/analytical-
to Mortgage Rates
note/2021/an2021-07
Household Leverage and
18(d)
www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/publications/discussion-
Asymmetric Housing Wealth
paper/2019/dp2019-01
Effects- Evidence from New
Zealand
Revisiting the wealth effect on
18(d)
www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/publications/analytical-
consumption in New Zealand
note/2017/an2017-03
An overview of the distributional 18(d)
www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/publications/analytical-
effects of monetary policy”
note/2021/an2021-05
(focusses on low rates, but
covers both in theory)
We intend to publish this response on the RBNZ’s website at: www.rbnz.govt.nz/research-and-
publications/official-information-requests. We do this in order to improve transparency and
provide an additional resource for anyone seeking information. Any personal information will be
removed prior to publication.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review of this decision by the Ombudsman.
Information about how to make a complaint is available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
freephone 0800 802 602.
Yours sincerely
Government and Industry Relations
Reserve Bank of New Zealand – Te Pūtea Matua
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