"Don't ignore the reputational harm Willis is inflicting on our financial system by proposing untested, populist policy measures driven by short-term political motives."

"The Minister of Finance [Nicola Willis] has, over the last couple of weeks, been trailing various possible changes in the financial system. ... trying to beef up Kiwibank ... overriding various bits of policy that are now squarely the legal responsibility of the Reserve Bank ... chang[ing] the law to force the Reserve Bank to lower bank capital requirements, and provide carveouts for some or other favoured groups. ...
    "But if you really want to make a change like that you do it after wide and serious consultation, or perhaps even as part of a well-trailed campaign promise, not simply (as it seems) to play distraction because another government agency might be about to release a briefly awkward report. ... if you want to be taken seriously as a Minister of Finance, you don’t just drop such a view into an interview – with, it appears, nothing in support – you outline carefully your case, or commission some reviewers to look into the matter carefully. ...
    "I don’t suppose it is very likely that Willis and the government will end up doing any of the things she trailed in last week’s 'Herald' interview. ... [But don't ignore] the reputational harm Willis is inflicting on our financial system by proposing untested, populist policy measures — arguably driven by short-term political motives. ... it hardly enhances any reputation Willis aspires to to be (and be seen as) a more serious Minister of Finance (focused on things that might make a real difference) than her predecessor. ...
    "Willis could readily have changed the chair of the Reserve Bank board when his term expired ... She could have filled the vacancies on the board with people better qualified than those Robertson appointed. But [she] hasn’t done anything about that either. ... suggest[ing] she isn’t really serious about any of this.

    "In the same vein, each year the Minister of Finance writes a Letter of Expectation to the Board... [Her] 2024 letter ... has not a hint of any of the sorts of issues/concerns Willis was raising in the 'Herald' interview. She also hasn’t revised the Financial Policy Remit(a new tool) issued by Robertson a couple of years ago. ... [S]he has shown no sign of doing any of the things she could (e.g. Board chair and vacancies, unwinding new indemnities the Bank has been given) or of using any moral suasion (e.g. through the letter of expectation) around financial policy issues or the Bank’s budgetary excesses.
    "So it all just looks a lot like a search for a good headline ... rather than a Minister with any sort of serious interest in ... a much better central bank ... Perhaps in that sense she and the Governor ... deserve each other. It is just that New Zealanders deserve much better from both ..."

~ Michael Reddell, from his post 'Still a bad idea'