However, our most recent analysis revealed ongoing challenges related to the solvency and customerservice focus of some sectors of the insurance industry.17 We need to enable appropriate insurance cover to be available and delivered in New Zealand, and ensure that insurance providers’ have the ability to meet customer requirements in the event of adverse shocks.18 We’ll be focusing our efforts this year to address these issues as part of our review of New Zealand’s Insurance Act.19 Another key challenge for the Bank will be calibrating a more intensive supervision and enforcement regime, as well as increasing the capability and capacity of our team to undertake this work.
Given the experience of our own Y2K efforts to date, I would expect to see costs rise further once all these Y2K programs are fully under way - ultimately pushing costs up within the Gartner Group range. Corporate efforts to deal with the Y2K problem are affecting economic activity in a variety of ways.