Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr. Photo: NZ HeraldReserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr lavished bad news on MPs at his appearance before Parliament’s finance and expenditure committee this morning, noting that the central bank was deliberately engineering a recession to bring down inflation. The Reserve Bank hiked the Official Cash Rate by a record 75 basis points on Wednesday to 4.25 per cent, its highest level since 2008. Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick asked Orr what he made of the commentary that the bank was deliberately engineering a recession to get ahead of inflation. Orr offered one ray of sunshine, saying the recession could be a “job-rich slowdown” because of the current tightness of the labour market.
