On 18 March, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) announced it will delay or slow down most of its regulatory initiatives for an initial period of six months to reduce the regulatory impost on financial institutions and free up central bank and industry resources to support the economy and tackle the challenges created by COVID-19. The announcement follows the RBNZ’s decision on 16 March to cut the official cash rate to 0.25 per cent from 1 per cent.