NZ makes RBNZ votes public as fin min Willis overhauls MPC transparency charter

New Zealand’s finance minister has overhauled the RBNZ’s MPC charter to publish individual committee votes whenever the panel fails to reach consensus and to attribute material differences of view in meeting records, effective immediately. Markets — particularly NZD traders and rates desks — gain an additional signal to assess the distribution of views on the OCR (currently 3.25%). While the piece says the immediate market reaction is likely limited, the structural change should reduce policy-surprise risk over time, improve forward guidance, and help markets price the OCR path more accurately, especially around turning points.