The 40th meeting of the South Pacific Central Bank Governors took place on 22-24 October 2025 in Auckland, New Zealand, bringing together the Governors and senior representatives of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Reserve Bank of Fiji, Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Bank of Papua New Guinea, Central Bank of Samoa, Central Bank of Solomon Islands, Central Bank of Timor-Leste, National Reserve Bank of Tonga, and the Reserve Bank of Vanuatu. The meeting was hosted and chaired by the Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Christian Hawkesby.
The agenda covered the full range of central bank activities across the South Pacific region. There was an open dialogue within and outside the formal meetings. The Governors also took advantage of the opportunity to get together for additional meetings convened by the Pacific Islands Forum and the World Bank (the Pacific CBR Technical Advisory Group and the Pacific De-risking Group).
The Governors had a presentation from the IMF's regional representative for the Pacific on the challenges and opportunities facing the region. Governors contributed their own experience of economic developments over the past year and their recent work programmes. The economic outlook across the region was generally positive, although the uncertain impact of the US tariff regime remained a downside risk.
The Governors heard from the Reserve Bank of Fiji and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand on their work to develop their respective payment systems, working with partners in the private sector and other government agencies.
The Governors discussed the interaction of fiscal and monetary policy, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic period and subsequently.
A key focus of the meeting was the need to consider the opportunities and challenges of innovation across the South Pacific region. The Governors heard from ANZ, BSP and Visa as well as Wellington-based companies Ackama and Creative HQ about their work on increasing innovation in banking and payment services, enabling innovative ecosystems and building community support for technological developments. Governors also discussed the ongoing work to deal with financial fraud and scams.
Summing up the three days of discussions, Governor Christian Hawkesby said,
"This meeting provided a valuable platform for central bank governors to have free and open discussions about topical issues and share ideas about how technology can enable innovation to support efficiency, financial inclusion and public engagement.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand - Te Pūtea Matua values this annual opportunity to get together with our Pacific counterparts. We last hosted this meeting in 2015 and though a lot has changed in that time, our joint commitment to our respective mandates remains strong, and we continue to focus on independence, trust, integrity, financial inclusion and anticipating the future of the financial system.
We look forward to another forty years of meetings. We are grateful to the Central Bank of Timor-Leste for offering to host the next meeting in 2026."
Reserve Bank of New Zealand
