But documents released today reveal he disagreed with the Finance Minister and the Reserve Bank’s board over how much funding he needed from the Government.

According to the updated statement from the Reserve Bank, by February 27, “it was clear that the Board and Minister of Finance were willing to agree to a considerably lesser amount than the amount Mr Orr thought was the minimum necessary.

“This caused distress to Mr Orr and the impasse risked damaging necessary working relationships, and led to Mr Orr’s personal decision that he had achieved all he could as Governor of the Reserve Bank and could not continue in that role with sufficiently less funding than he thought was viable for the organisation.

“Mr Orr and Professor Quigley entered discussions which led to Mr Orr’s decision to resign. Both parties engaged senior counsel to negotiate an appropriate exit agreement.

“In the circumstances, an immediate departure and special leave for Mr Orr was appropriate, although he agreed to provide handover support.”

The abrupt nature of Orr’s departure was attributed to concerns that information about his resignation might leak from sources outside the Reserve Bank (RBNZ) before an official announcement could be made.

“After Mr Orr raised concerns about sources outside RBNZ potentially being aware of his intended resignation, he and RBNZ agreed to make the announcement on March 5.”

Orr’s departure on March 5 meant he was notably absent from an international banking conference the Reserve Bank had been set to host the day after, which included speakers such as former US Federal Reserve chairperson Ben Bernanke.

The Reserve Bank confirmed today that Orr’s resignation announcement had been brought forward.

“Mr Orr was expected to open the conference. Initially it was planned that he would do so and the resignation would be publicly announced on the following Monday.”

The updated statement on Orr’s departure was issued shortly after midday, after a “near final draft” was mistakenly sent to journalists an hour earlier, the bank said.

The Reserve Bank’s earlier “draft” release included a specific amount of funding that Orr sought – $1.031bn – and referenced a meeting the former governor attended on February 24 with Willis and Treasury officials, which was removed from the new statement.

It was eventually agreed the bank would be allocated operating expenses of $750 million and capital expenditure of $25.6 million for the period.

In both statements, the Reserve Bank dismissed speculation that discussions about regulatory capital requirements for banks contributed to the resignation, stating their review “does not indicate that these discussions were significant to” his decision to quit.

Alongside the release of the statement, the Reserve Bank released a slew of documents surrounding Orr’s shock departure, while also withholding other information.

Following’s Orr’s resignation, Christian Hawkesby was appointed acting governor, with the board required to nominate a temporary replacement within 28 days of the position becoming vacant. Hawkesby was later appointed to a six-month interim term from April.- ONENews