Tony Alexander resigns from BNZ

The respected chief economist announced his departure in a statement this morning. Alexander has spent more than quarter of a century as the bank's chief economist, and is one of the main speakers at this year's TMM Better Business Conference on November 12.

He said: "After 26 and a half years, with almost 25 years as chief economist, and having achieved many of those goals I set out at the start, I’ve decided that in our world of disruption maybe it is time to disrupt myself and have made the call to resign from the BNZ."

Alexander said had seen "astounding" changes in the NZ economy over the past few decades, with "an upending of old economic models and structural changes in things such as average inflation, wages growth, house prices, and of course interest rates".

In one of his last comments, Alexander said one-year rates look an attractive option in the current market.

Personally, I’d probably fix one year in anticipation of further rate falls to come. If I were an investor, I’d get professional advice and be aware that the shysters will be coming out of the woodwork soon offering returns they’ll try and convince me I “deserve”. Angora bunnies lurk just over the horizon," he said.