RBNZ chief should have discussed support for Powell, Willis says

Tracy Withers, Bloomberg News on Jan 18, 2026

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New Zealand Finance Minister Nicola Willis said she would have preferred Reserve Bank Governor Anna Breman spoke with her before signing a statement in support of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

“She should have let me know that that statement was her intention and she should have taken advice from across government” including the Treasury Department and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Willis told reporters Monday in Auckland. “It’s appropriate that on issues of foreign affairs, she get advice from the officials who are experts in that area.”

Breman and other central bank chiefs signed the statement early last week to show solidarity with Powell amid a threat of criminal charges that was seen as a challenge to the Fed’s independence. The following day, New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said the RBNZ shouldn’t involve itself in US domestic politics and called on Breman to “stay in her New Zealand lane.”

Willis said she spoke with Breman to seek an explanation for why the government hadn’t been advised of the central banks’ statement. Breman told Willis she’d been reluctant to contact her at 3 a.m. in the morning when a BIS meeting at which the statement was discussed had ended.

Willis said she advised Breman she would be available at that time, and that a call would have provided an opportunity to get advice from a range of perspectives.

“How that would’ve gone on her final decision, I don’t know and I wouldn’t speculate,” she said. “But I think she’s very happy that in future she’ll contact me and we’ll make sure that she has advice from across government.”

Willis said she didn’t think it was necessary for Breman to apologize.