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Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard - Source: ONE News -
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A new book by New Zealand's top banker reveals he wasn't impressed with many of the ideas at the government's much-touted jobs summit and left early to watch a cricket match.
And Alan Bollard also reveals in the book what the Reserve Bank knew about New Zealand's faltering finance companies.
The Reserve Bank governor said on TVNZ's Q+A programme this
morning that the jobs summit was partly a feel
good exercise and his book casts doubt about its worth.
Last year's summit was part of the government's response to the recession but Bollard told ONE News political editor Guyon Espiner he wasn't impressed by some of the business leaders' policy views.
However Bollard said Prime Minister John Key achieved his aim of creating a positive feeling and it brought together a lot of people in the community.
Bollard said he left the jobs summit early, after being there since 6am, and flew back to Wellington to watch a cricket match. But he said he had participated in the specific groups related to him.
His book on the global financial crisis is being released as New Zealanders are paying $1.6 billion for the collapse of South Canterbury Finance under the government's deposit guarantee scheme. But the governor says the scheme was essential.
"If we had cut the finance companies out all the finance companies would have gone, if we had cut specific ones out there would have been lawsuits all over the place and blood on the floor the next morning," Bollard said.
His book reveals that the Reserve Bank knew which finance companies were about to fall over but he said they had to be very careful about disclosing information and could only talk about the broad principles.
"Of course there are going to be some finance companies that are going to be a lot riskier than others," said Bollard.
