Once a world-leading, single-minded guardian of price stability, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) is increasingly answering to a diverse range of expectations from government, and its communications are revealing how it manages policy tensions. In one recent instance it adopted an accommodative stance, in another it was more combative. The biggest test of its communications – exiting from pandemic support – is yet to come.

An objective exercise

Two years ago, the bank was given a second