It has only taken just over two months, for papers that are more than 10 years old, but the Reserve Bank has finally complied with my request for the papers for the March 2005 Monetary Policy Statement.  I welcome the fact that the papers are also being released on the Bank’s website (link below), which makes them widely available, and highlights to future researchers that they have been released.

The Bank has released the papers without redaction, and without withholding any complete papers.  Again,that is welcome (if no more than we should have expected).  But the interesting question is where the Bank’s threshold is.  Would they take the same approach to papers from 2010, or from 2013?  Perhaps someone might like to lodge such requests?   My interest had first been to establish the principle that, albeit with some lag, forecast week papers should be accessible to the public, and open to scrutiny from researchers, MPs, and interested members of the public.  That seems to have been done.

3 June 2015

Mr Michael Reddell

18 Bay Lair Grove

Island Bay

Wellington 6023

Dear Mr Reddell

On 2 April 2015, you made an Official Information request to the Reserve Bank seeking:

Copies of all the papers provided to the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee, and Official Cash Rate Advisory Group, in preparation for the March 2005 Monetary Policy Statement. In particular, I am seeking all papers that would now be described as “forecast week papers” and any/all email updates/clarifications provided to the committee (whether through hard copies, or thru email groups such as MPCCOM or OCRAG, or their predecessors) from the start of the forecast week for that round to the release of that Monetary Policy Statement

The Reserve Bank is releasing to you the following information:

1. Alternative forecasts – MPC Paper March 2005
2. Alternative forecasts presentation (March 2005).ppt
3. Alternative scenario and uncertainty dept meeting Feb05.ppt
4. Alternative Scenarios and Uncertainty Memo – March MPS 2005 (final).doc
5. Alternative Scenarios for MPC.ppt
6. At first glance – Dwelling consents jan 05
7. At first glance – Dwelling consents, December 2004
8. At first glance – wpip December 20040.pdf
9. At First Glance Feb 05 Consensus Forecasts.pdf
10. Business investment forecast notes (March 2005 round)
11. Business Investment Slides March 2005
12. Consumption forecast notes – March 2005 MPS
13. Domestic Chart pack March MPS round 2005
14. Economic Projections for March 2005 MPS
15. Economic Projections presentation March 2005 MPS
16. Economic Projections under unchanged policy path, March 2004 MPS.doc
17. Effective mortgage rates and OCR graph
18. Emails to MPC and or OCRAG  for March MPS
19. filenote for Board and OCRAG to reconcile changes between 1st-pass and published March 05 MPS projections
20. FINAL: Economic projections for March MPS
21. Financial Market Developments – Week 5 Paper March 2005 MPS.doc
22. Forecasting notes External Sector March 2005.doc
23. GDP Forecasting Notes
24. Indicator chart – 28 February 2005
25. Migration slides March 2005.ppt
26. Near-term GDP forecasts
27. Nearterm GDP slides.ppt

The Reserve Bank intends to publish this response to you on its website. http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/research_and_publications/official_information/

You have the right to seek a review of the Reserve Bank’s decisions, under section 28 of the Official Information Act.

Yours sincerely

Angus Barclay

External Communications Advisor | Reserve Bank of New Zealand

2 The Terrace, Wellington 6011 | P O Box 2498, Wellington 6140

www.rbnz.govt.nz