WELLINGTON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - A top New Zealand central banker said on Wednesday the bank has no plans to use additional monetary policy $(AMP)$ tools any time soon and that it was unrealistic to expect monetary or fiscal policies to offset every economic shock.

"Looking ahead, we will continue improving our understanding of how AMP tools influence the economy and strengthen institutional arrangements to coordinate with our fiscal counterparts," Reserve Bank of New Zealand chief economist Paul Conway said in a speech in Sydney at the Citi Australia & New Zealand Investment conference.

New Zealand's central bank used a number of AMP tools during the pandemic, including a large-scale asset purchase programme. That programme received some criticism for overstimulating the economy, boosting inflation and forcing the sharp increase in interest rates to get inflation back under control.

"I want to be clear up front that we do not expect to use additional monetary policy tools again anytime soon. The OCR (official cash rate) is our preferred tool for managing the level of monetary stimulus through economic cycles," Conway said.

He added that during economic crises, when the cash rate can hit its effective lower bound, then additional monetary policy tools and fiscal policy can help stabilise the economy.

Conway also said the bank remained prepared to help New Zealand weather any future crises.

"In doing so we must avoid choices that threaten monetary policy’s operational independence or focus on medium-term inflation pressures," he said.