Third, in recognition of the growing role of ICT in financial services delivery, the Bank published guidelines on branchless banking in August 2008, to allow collaboration between banks, telecom companies and merchants to provide greater access to banking and financial services for the banked, unbanked and under-banked segments of the society.
After all, New Zealand is a small open economy with a large commodity-producing sector, and as a result the economy is particularly subject to external shocks that can have a relatively large impact on consumer prices. In this context, the use of a narrow comfort zone would increase the odds that inflation would fall outside the band at certain times.