New Zealand is considering plans to increase the capital of its state-owned lender in a bid to make it more competitive with Australian-owned banks.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis said in a speech on Saturday that KiwiBank cannot compete or drive change in New Zealand’s banking sector without additional capital. Willis suggested the government might consider partial privatisation because the country’s pension savings system wants local assets to invest in.
“It’s time to explore all the options,” he said. “Let’s see what’s possible.”
The speech comes as local media reported last month that the government was willing to sell a stake in the state-owned bank as part of plans to increase competition in the banking sector. An antitrust report in March recommended that KiwiBank be given greater access to capital to try to destabilise the dominant Australian-owned banks.which appear to be focused on protecting profit margins.
“Disruptive forces are needed to drive change. No more comfortable oligopolies,” “I would like to see it become a disruptive competitor that competes with the big Australian-owned banks,” Willis said.
