Then-Minister of Finance Roger Douglas was very concerned in March 1988 that, with inflation moving into single figures for almost the first time in 15 years (with the exception of a brief period during which all prices, wages, interest rates, dividends and rents were subject to tight administrative control), the public would expect the monetary authorities to ease up, and settle for inflation in the 5 to 7 per cent range.
It was in that context that the Minister announced, during the course of a television interview on 1 April 1988, that he was thinking of genuine price stability, "around 0, or 0 to one per cent".