BNZ made an after-tax profit of $805 million in the last six months to the end of March.

This represents a 13.5 percent rise in profit on the same period last year when BNZ made an after-tax profit of $709m.

BNZ chief executive Dan Huggins explained that a strong banking sector was important for New Zealand’s economy.

NZ Herald business editor at large Liam Dann says the larger banks have been making record profits thanks to the Reserve Bank hiking interest rates to slow the economy.

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