2003 Monetary Policy school competition

For the second year running, The Reserve Bank today launched the Monetary Policy Challenge school competition. The Challenge is an education initiative aimed at secondary school economics students, designed to expand their understanding of monetary policy.

The competition involves teams of students becoming, in effect, central bankers. Each team presents written advice to the Reserve Bank on what the Official Cash Rate should be.

Last year's competition was a great success, the winner being Logan Park High School from Dunedin.

The competition starts on 21 July 2003 and runs throughout the third school term. Regional heats will be held in Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington, Hamilton and Auckland during August, at which oral presentations will be made. The winning team from each region will be invited to the Reserve Bank to compete in the finals, held on 16 September 2003.

The winning school will receive a cash prize and its MPC team will be invited to attend, an actual Monetary Policy Statement release in Wellington.

Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard commented "The Monetary Policy Challenge offers college students a great opportunity to expand their understanding of monetary policy. Participants will learn how the economy works and how the Reserve Bank makes its interest rate decisions."

To help with their assessment of the economy and the outlook for inflation, Monetary Policy Challenge participants will have access to up-to-date economic data via the Reserve Bank's website http://www.rbnz.govt.nz.

A Monetary Policy Challenge information pack has been mailed to Economics teachers around the country.

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