This article was first published by RNZ.
Private and public sectors must work together to improve Māori access to finance, according to the head of the Reserve Bank.
The central bank’s governor, Adrian Orr, said Māori were “too often” under-served by the financial system, in both access and relevant financial products.
“This should disappoint all New Zealanders, in part given that the Māori economy remains one of the largest potential sources of economic growth,” he said.
Orr highlighted BERL’s most recent report on the Māori economy, which calculated it grew at nearly twice the rate of the total economy between 2013 and 2018.
“Improving Māori access to capital has been and remains a powerful enabler for prosperity, sustainability, cohesion, and inclusion. We should collectively prioritise this goal.”
Orr said success required the “whole system” to work together to improve the status quo, and it needed to involve the government, private sector institutions, iwi and Māori decision makers.
He said there were some signs of collaborative work already.
“Iwi chairs, pou tahua, have been working to get an iwi-led financial intermediary, Rauawa, running. It would be a Māori intermediary that would act as a conduit between capital seekers and providers, supporting effective capital allocation and risk management.”
Orr said some retail banks had also taken “positive steps”.
“Policies to enable lending on whenua Māori are progressing, alongside building internal capability and capacity to work with Māori businesses. It is this type of progress we want to showcase in the dashboard discussed.”
Orr also highlighted government agencies such as the Treasury and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment working on streamlining funding and support systems for Māori business.
- RNZ