Recently, the Reserve Bank published detailed time series data of weighted average effective lending rates (WALR) of commercial banks, which have been compiled on the basis of contractual interest details of individual loan account data since 1992–93.
But, this trend does not support the notion that the public no longer values cash. Responses to our Future of Money Stewardship Issues Paper3 and ongoing research reaffirm that New Zealanders value cash, even among the many who don’t use it regularly.