Australia/New Zealand: “Adrian has a tendency to take a lot of the criticisms to heart”

Eighteen months after Australia’s central bank chief was removed, New Zealand’s governor Adrian Orr quit with three years left of his term.
 
Both had faced withering political criticism, but Orr’s departure was so abrupt and inexplicable that it shook the market just as the Reserve Bank of New Zealand was carefully reversing its pandemic-era tightening cycle.
 
To explain what Orr’s departure may mean for policy and to contrast the easing cycles in Australia and New Zealand, Pepijn Bergsen talked to Andrew Besuyen, Medley Advisors’ analyst for the region. 

Before joining Medley in 2023, Andrew was an RBNZ economist who worked on the analysis team for Orr and the monetary policy committee.  “Adrian has a tendency to take a lot of the criticisms to heart, and so maybe it's just come at a time where he's had enough". 

"Once he knew where he wanted to get, he wanted to get there quite quickly, and, in this case, he wanted to get the OCR to 3% or at least have a three handle. I think the committee bought into that in general. So even without him there, there'll be a little bit of that mentality remaining”.