Nicola Willis: Finance Minister on the search for new Reserve Bank Governor Anna Breman

Three hundred potential candidates were identified in the hunt for our new Reserve Bank Governor.

The role has gone to Anna Breman, who was the First Deputy Governor of Sweden's central bank.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis says it was a a tough competition amongst candidates.

"The Reserve Bank went through a process of both advertising and also doing a large international search to consider people that could be qualified for the role." 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The new Reserve Bank governor is Swedish doctor Arna Breman

(00:03):
is her name to I see at Sweden's Central Bank,
former chief economist at a retail bank, big CV Nicola Willis
Finance Minister with US good evening, good evening on. Did
she apply for this job or was she shoulder tap
to apply for this job?

Speaker 2 (00:16):
She made a formal application for this job. The Reserve
Bank went through a process of both advertising and also
doing a large international search to consider people that could
be qualified for the role.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
Oh so she got shoulder tapped then applied.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
I actually don't know what the sequence was with her,
but I know that she was one of the eleven
candidates who formerly submitted an application for the role.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
Only eleven people applied, I would have thought they'd be
a more.

Speaker 2 (00:47):
Well formerly submitting an application for the role as a
commitment to a significant process. Of those eight were international
applicants run which tells you that there were a number
of people international who were prepared to make that move
to New Zealand to take up this esteemed position.

Speaker 1 (01:06):
What was the caliber like of those applicants?

Speaker 2 (01:09):
Well, the Reserve Bank Board tell me that a very
high caliber of applicants with extensive experience and skill across
a range of backgrounds finance, central banking, government, and they
were very happy with the choices that were made available to.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
Them, very big on transparency, which I like the sound of.
And over in Sweden they do things like actually publish
the minutes of the Monetary Policy Committee meetings. They tell
you which way a member voted, They tell you the
reasons why their justification, a whole bunch of stuff they do.
Will that be up to doctor Breman to decide or

(01:47):
is that board decision or is that a you decision?
Changing that stuff?

Speaker 2 (01:52):
Well, that's certainly something that doctor Breman will have input
into along with her board. I issued something called the
Money Try Policy Charter, which sets out a greed expectations
between me and the Reserve Bank about how the Monetary
Policy Committee conducts itself. And those are conversations that I
expect will happen once doctor Breman has come into the

(02:14):
role in December.

Speaker 1 (02:15):
Okay, you would like to see more transparency around that
stuff though.

Speaker 2 (02:20):
Look, I'm a big fan of transparency and openness because
I think it leads to two things, one greater trust
and two greater accountability. And I think both of those
are good forces. And what is a really important economic institution? Right?

Speaker 1 (02:34):
This stuff about the fitula long term fiscal track for
the government. This is treasuries forty years ahead look, and
it's more of what we kind of expect that we
will run out of money as a government and not
enough revenue and expenses will keep going up with health
and aging and all that kind of stuff. Is this
what do you do about this? Is this why you

(02:56):
come to the election next year with some thing to
do with super and something to do with KEYWI savor.

Speaker 2 (03:04):
Well, we know that changing demographics are already having an
impact on the government's fiscal position and that will continue
to grow. Is there a fewer working aged people to
support a larger number of people who require superannuation and
higher amounts of health services. But what the Treasury highlights
in that report is that it's not one big radical
change that needs to be made all at once. They're

(03:24):
highlighting that lots of individual changes will have to be
made over the longer term, and to achieve fiscal sustainability
over a period of decades is something that successive governments
will all have to chip away at over the next
few decades. And I've made clear that one of the
important first steps is that we return the books to
surplus and bring get down to more prudent levels. That's

(03:46):
what we're working hard on, and I have highlighted that
our superannuation and key we saver settings are something that
I think over time all parties will have to come
to positions on and come to the campaign trail.

Speaker 1 (04:00):
You made some comments this morning at the mood of
the boardroom which have irked a few people in the
business community. Have been contacted by some of them today,
some of them have texted in this afternoon. It went
on like a bit of a cup of cold sick.
This comment that one hundred and fifty people in that
room not representative of the five million kiwis that you represent.
Some of them felt like it was punching down on
the business community, which is something you've done with They

(04:23):
argue with the grocery sector, with power companies, a whole
bunch of stuff.

Speaker 2 (04:28):
Do you accept that, Well, No, I think that comment's
been taken really grossly out of context because I prefaced
my remarks at mood of the boardroom today extensively with
a few comments, one that the people in that room
matter incredibly to the New Zealand economy because their decisions
impact on job creation, income growth, investment, and actually are

(04:52):
determinative of the economic growth that we want to see.
And I also said that their feedback really matters to me,
that their perspectives that they share with me, have shared
with me throughout the year and will continue to share
with me inform my thinking and are very important. My
point was that the survey itself, Ryan surveys one hundred
and fifty representatives from a small set of companies, and

(05:13):
of course, as we know, all of those companies have
sometimes hundreds, sometimes thousands of employees who will have a
range of perspectives. There are a range of small businesses
in the country that of course weren't represented in that
room today. And my point is we as a government
need to listen to a range of perspectives. That's a
very important part of governing well, not to just take
the perspectives of one group of people.

Speaker 1 (05:36):
Okay, on, just while we're speaking of our companies, the
gen Taylors, have you got when's that report? Sometime in
the next week we will find out whether you're going
to break them up.

Speaker 2 (05:47):
Well, cabinet has been working hard on that, and announcements
will be made in due course.

Speaker 1 (05:51):
Think of the will as Finance Minister. For more from
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