News
On 14 May, following the release of the New Zealand budget for financial year 2020/21, Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities announced an update to its expected medium-term financing requirements. The issuer says new housing plans give clarity to the market on Kāinga Ora’s funding needs.
NRW.BANK posted its largest-ever Kangaroo deal on 13 May in what the issuer says is the culmination of many years of investor engagement. The agency reveals plans to extend its Australian dollar presence this year, potentially with a social bond transaction.
The following interview is with an Australian-based fixed-income salesperson. It was conducted on 8 May 2020.
The secondary market for Australian dollar financial institutions (FIs) and corporates is showing signs that the severe dislocation of March and early April is abating, market participants say. A new relative-value proposition is leading fund managers to consider returning to allocation to certain sectors.
Reserve Bank of New Zealand governor, Adrian Orr, says inflation-linked bonds were chosen for inclusion in an expanded large-scale asset purchase (LSAP) programme to align with its principles for use of unconventional monetary policy. The reserve bank also hosed down talk of imminent deployment of negative interest rates but said banks should be ready for such a move by the end of this year.
Normalisation in the cross-currency market opened a New Zealand dollar funding opportunity for World Bank, as part of the borrower’s record funding drive in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
On 13 May, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) expanded the large scale asset purchase (LSAP) programme to NZ$60 billion (US$36.3 billion) over the next 12 months from the previous NZ$33 billion limit. “The expansion to the LSAP programme aims to continue to reduce the cost of borrowing quickly and sharply,” the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)’s statement explains.
The following interview is with an Australian-based fixed-income syndicate banker. It was conducted on 8 May 2020.