Reserve Bank chief economist Paul Conway on global uncertainty
The Reserve Bank chief economist Paul Conway says New Zealand has a long-running productivity problem.
In its latest Monetary Policy Statement, the Reserve Bank took a neutral position on any further cuts to the official cash rate, the benchmark for retail bank interest rates.
The 'uncertainty' in economic conditions was a key theme in its messaging. Paul Conway, who has been the Reserve Bank's chief economist for three years, and a former director of research at the Productivity Commission, has long campaigned on the importance of lifting productivity as a means to higher wages and higher tax revenue.
However, New Zealand's productivity growth has been languishing, averaging only 0.2 per cent in the last 10 years.
Stats NZ estimated earlier this year that labour productivity, one component, fell 0.9 per cent in the year to March last year.
Paul talks to Kathryn about what will be needed if the country is to turn around its productivity.
