Wellington, August 15, 2016
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A team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will arrive in New Zealand tomorrow to begin assessing the stability of the country’s banking and insurance sectors and financial markets, Finance Minister Bill English says.
The Financial Sector Assessment Programme is a routine part of the IMF’s financial surveillance. The last FSAP for New Zealand in 2004 found that the New Zealand banking system was efficient and adequately supervised.
“New Zealand has a stable, well-capitalised banking sector that held up well in the face of the global financial crisis and I expect the IMF to comment favourably on both it and the improvements to the regulatory landscape since its last report,” Mr English says.
“There are, however, a number of areas where the IMF may identify differences between New Zealand’s arrangements and international standards.
“Good reasons exist for these differences. They include the structure of our financial system and the regulatory and supervisory system the Reserve Bank has developed to meet New Zealand conditions.
“We will be interested to hear what the IMF has to say about New Zealand’s regulatory and supervisory framework and will carefully consider any recommendations it makes.”
The IMF team is scheduled to make two visits to New Zealand in the coming months. The August visit will focus on the banking and insurance sectors, and the November visit will review New Zealand’s securities regime. The final report is expected to be issued in April or May next year.
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