The COVID Diaries: corporate borrower 4

The following interview is with a New Zealand based corporate treasurer. It was conducted on 8 May 2020.

Does your business have a timeline for returning to office working?

We do have a plan to return to the office – it is essentially whenever the government eases restrictions to level two from level three. Under level two, we will need to have working protocols in place such as social distancing and alternating teams going into the office. This will likely be in place for the near future.

We are an essential business and have been maintaining operations throughout the entire crisis. But a lot of nonessential maintenance work has been postponed and will hopefully start up again soon.

Has your view of the crisis and the nature of the challenges it presents changed? It seems New Zealand has prioritised public health over the economy, at least in the medium term. How are you thinking about that trade off?

I think at this stage the focus should be shifting from health to the economic consequences of the lockdown. There is obviously a balance that needs to be maintained but given the virus is currently under control in New Zealand it is probably appropriate to focus more on the economy.

Do you think this should include an accelerated easing of restrictions?

In my opinion yes. It is interesting though that, in New Zealand, there has been a survey saying 88 per cent of the population is in favour of the lockdown and would like it to be extended. It is very surprising how easily people have given up their personal freedoms.

It does concern me that a lot of small business owners, such as cafes, restaurants, and bars, will go bankrupt. It will take a very long time for those businesses to recover if an extension happens. The problem is compounded by the fact that, for a large proportion of businesses in the economy, tax collected will fall and this will further damage government finances. This is why I think there should be more focus on the economy.

“This is why the local population is so scared – they are seeing coffins rolled out in Italy night after night but are unaware of the successful response in Taiwan and elsewhere. The news in the international finance media has been much more optimistic and balanced.”

Are you more or less optimistic about the crisis than you were during the early acceleration period of moving to home working and adding social distancing measures?

I am marginally more optimistic now, though I have never really been pessimistic about it.

How do you think things will be different when we get back to normal? What changes can you see to work practices, social changes and the economy?

We will definitely have social distancing measures in place for quite some time and international travel will be off the agenda for the remainder of the year at least.

Are you holding out hope for a trans-Tasman bubble?

Yes, I think this is a very good idea to stimulate the tourism sector of the economy.

We have been asking people what they have been reading relating to the crisis but we think everyone has seen enough by this stage. So what are your entertainment recommendations for lockdown?

One observation I have around news on COVID-19 is that I have found the coverage from sources like Reuters and Bloomberg to be much more balanced compared with the local newspapers and TV stations. Local news has pandered to the shock element and reported mostly on the really negative news. Countries like Taiwan, Hong Kong, Germany and Australia have navigated the crisis very well but that has not been covered in local news.

I imagine this is why the local population is so scared – they are seeing coffins rolled out in Italy night after night but are unaware of the successful response in Taiwan and elsewhere. The news in the international finance media has been much more optimistic and balanced.

For entertainment, I have been reading some books I have read previously. The book I am reading at the moment is George Best’s biography.

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