March 2003 Reserve Bank Bulletin released
The Reserve Bank today released the March 2003 issue of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Bulletin.
The March issue contains five articles covering a broad range of central banking issues.
The first article discusses the output gap, its strengths and weakness, the various ways it can be measured, and how it
fits into the monetary policy process at the Reserve Bank.
The second article explains the Financial Sector Assessment Programme (FSAP) and discusses the key elements within it.
The FSAP is a relatively new surveillance and assessment programme developed and jointly managed by the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
The third article explains the role of the Reserve Bank in the domestic payment system and comments on some of the
issues and challenges looking ahead.
The fourth article explains what the Overnight Indexed Swap (OIS) is and how it is used by market participants to manage
interest rate risks and to take a view on the direction of the official cash rate (OCR).
The final article summarises the legal history of notes and coins in New Zealand, focusing on the development of the
legal framework governing notes and coin and discussing some of the economic and social issues that shaped these legal
developments.