RBNZ's blindness to its role in fueling house prices

Economist Dominick Stephens argued monetary policy, even before the FLP started, had been fueling house price inflation. (Photo: Deposit Photos)

Jenny Ruth

Thu, 04 Nov 2021

Absent from Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr's statements this week about what has been driving house prices has been any mention of the role played by his bank's money-printing programme or the fact that it's still providing the banks with cheap funding.That's in the form of the funding-for-lending programme (FLP) that provides banks with three-year money at whatever rate the official cash rate (OCR) has been set at.It's currently 0.5% and therefore cheaper funding than the banks can get from either term deposits or wholesa...

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