The Reserve Bank (RBNZ) is set to wear the cost of its easy monetary policies and support measures for the economy during the pandemic.
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The central bank has been buying government bonds and making cheap loans available to banks to help keep a lid on interest rates and ensure sufficient liquidity in the financial system.
So far the RBNZ has bought $57 billion worth of bonds and lent another $2.9b through its funding for lending programme, almost tripling the size of its balance sheet to $85b in little over a year.
RBNZ head of financial markets Vanessa Rayner told a finance conference the support measures could in effect continue for years to come.
"The actions taken over the past year mean that the bank's balance sheet will remain large for a long time, and new monetary policy tools will likely remain mainstream for as long as global central bank policy rates remain at, or near, record lows."
"Some of our assets from the Large Scale Asset Purchase (LSAP) programme have a maturity of up to 20 years in the future. Held to maturity, it would take decades for these assets to mature and roll-off the balance sheet, irrespective of any reinvestment policy decisions," she said.
RBNZ said it would keep buying bonds up to a maximum of $100b through to June next year.
Rayner said the RBNZ was already looking to the future and how it could use its financial resources to achieve climate change and sustainability goals.