The new government should make it a policy priority to help rebalance the economy, says BNZ boss Anthony Healy.

"I do think the shape of our tax system needs to be looked at, particularly when you consider some of the widening gaps between rich and poor.

"I think addressing that through redistribution, particularly with a capital gains tax, would certainly be something I'd like both (potential) governments to be considering."

Hear Healy's comments in the video player above

Healy said there were four main reasons why the housing market stopped going up.

The first was a lack of affordable houses – a lot of buyers were simply priced out of the market now.

Secondly, the LVR restrictions were having a significant impact particularly on investors.

Thirdly, all the major banks had stopped lending on foreign income which had removed a lot of foreign investors from the market.

Finally, Healy said capital controls in China had cut the number of Chinese buyers in the market.

Healy said the banks “weren’t” panicking about the slow-down but agreed that property developers were now having difficulties in financing some projects.

| A Newsroom release  ||  October 09,  2017   |||