Dan Brunskill

New Zealand, Wellington

Political and Economics Reporter at Interest.co.nz

Economic policy reporter for @interestnz (tweets aren’t journalism) [email protected]

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Articles

RBNZ to review staff levels after 25% funding cut

1 week ago | interest.co.nz | Dan Brunskill |Gareth Vaughan |David Hargreaves

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) will slash its annual spending by 25% under a new funding agreement just signed with Finance Minister Nicola Willis. The five-year deal, announced Wednesday, allocates $750 million for operating costs and $25.6 million for capital expenditure. While this is only a 3.5% from the $778 million funding arrangement for 2020-2025, it will require the bank to make significant cuts to its current annual budget.
RBNZ launches real-time GDP estimate

1 week ago | interest.co.nz | Dan Brunskill |Gareth Vaughan |David Hargreaves

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) has launched a ‘nowcasting’ model, which will give a live estimate of gross domestic product in each quarter based on frequently updated data releases. It is based on the New York Fed Staff Nowcast and aims to make up for the long lag time between official GDP data collection and publication. Stats NZ releases the official numbers more than two months after the quarter ends, making it only useful for historical analysis.
‘BE COOL!’ NZ watches nervously as the US wobbles

1 week ago | interest.co.nz | Dan Brunskill |Gareth Vaughan |David Hargreaves

It was hard to sleep on Wednesday night. Donald Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs took effect that afternoon and the bond market was reacting poorly. Long-dated yields were surging at record-breaking speeds, despite a similar sell-off in the stockmarket. The US$29 trillion market, which underpins the entire global financial system, was showing signs of stress.
Luxon pitches new bloc to salvage global trade

2 weeks ago | interest.co.nz | Dan Brunskill |Gareth Vaughan |David Hargreaves

A meltdown in the United States bond market overnight has created a window of opportunity for world leaders to salvage the global trading system from a rampaging Donald Trump. The American President suspended the so-called reciprocal tariffs—while keeping the 10% baseline and hiking the China rate to 125%—in an attempt to halt a sharp selloff in US bonds overnight.
Labour MP David Parker quits; not because of wealth tax

2 weeks ago | interest.co.nz | Dan Brunskill |Gareth Vaughan |David Hargreaves

Labour Party veteran and former Revenue Minister David Parker has announced plans to retire from politics, but he says it doesn’t mean a wealth tax is off the table. Parker was elected to Parliament in 2002 after winning a seat in Otago. Prior to politics, he worked as a lawyer, started a cafe, and later became the inaugural chief executive of the highly successful A2 Milk Corporation.
Christian Hawkesby confirmed as temporary RBNZ Governor

2 weeks ago | interest.co.nz | Dan Brunskill |Gareth Vaughan |David Hargreaves

Christian Hawkesby has been appointed as Governor of the Reserve Bank (RBNZ) for a six-month term starting Tuesday (April 8). Hawkesby has been Acting Governor since Adrian Orr unexpectedly left in early March, and will hold the senior role for up to nine months while the RBNZ board selects a candidate for a full five year term. Finance Minister Nicola Willis said he was an experienced central banker and would help to“ensure the continued integrity and operations” of the RBNZ.
Tariff shock threatens NZ growth - Willis

2 weeks ago | interest.co.nz | Dan Brunskill |Gareth Vaughan |David Hargreaves

Finance Minister Nicola Willis says Donald Trump’s tariff policies could derail New Zealand’s economic recovery, which was expected to gather pace this year. The Treasury estimated in December that gross domestic product would increase by 3.3% in the year ending June 2026, having grown just 0.5% in the year ending this June.
RBNZ drops OCR to 3.5%; says tariffs may mean more cuts

2 weeks ago | interest.co.nz | Dan Brunskill |Gareth Vaughan |David Hargreaves

Media releaseThe Monetary Policy Committee today agreed to reduce the Official Cash Rate by 25 basis points to 3.5 percent. Annual consumer price inflation remains near the mid-point of the Monetary Policy Committee’s 1 to 3 percent target band. Firms’ inflation expectations and core inflation are consistent with inflation remaining at target over the medium term. Economic activity in New Zealand has evolved largely as expected since the February Monetary Policy Statement.
NZ businesses upbeat - but activity remains weak

2 weeks ago | interest.co.nz | Dan Brunskill |Gareth Vaughan |David Hargreaves

New Zealand firms are feeling increasingly upbeat about the economy despite actual business activity remaining weak, NZIER’s latest survey shows. This Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion was taken during March and prior to US President Donald Trump’s new tariff policy, which has triggered a crash in financial markets. It found a net 23% of firms expected an improvement in business conditions over the next three months, despite a net 21% reporting a fall in their own activity during March.
Govt plans to lift defence spending to 2% of GDP over eight years

2 weeks ago | interest.co.nz | Dan Brunskill |Gareth Vaughan |David Hargreaves

The Coalition Government plans to spend $12 billion over the next four years to modernise the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) and prepare for a possible confrontation with China. A long-awaited Defence Capability Plan, published on Monday, outlined $9 billion of new capital and operational spending over the next four years. This uplift was expected to continue until spending reaches 2% of gross domestic product in 2032.