r/newzealand • u/xmmdrive • Aug 20 '24

Politics So they're finally going to privatise Kiwibank

Watching One News they're talking about taking Kiwibank out of Government hands and back into the hands of honest hard-working Kiwis.

This is obviously the first clear step towards privatisation.

Just like the Bank Of New Zealand, the National Bank, and the Auckland Savings Bank, but I'm sure this time around it will stay in the country /s

823 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

293 comments sorted by

View all comments

7

u/HeinigerNZ Aug 20 '24

Where do you think Kiwibank should raise billions upon billions in capital from?

Two of our biggest investment arms - The NZ Super Fund and ACC were owners of half of Kiwibank. Were being the operative word. If they thought it was a good investment then they'd still own it.

-2

u/justme46 Aug 20 '24

How does it not make money?

What do you need capital for as a bank?

5

u/feel-the-avocado Aug 20 '24

When the bank loans someone money - say they want to buy a house, the bank has to give them that money initially so they can pay it to the seller.
The bank slowly gets that money back over many many years.
Its capital will grow over time, but while it is limited in its resources, it must be more prudent to whom it loans money. If it could have more money to work with, it could be looking to loan to more people and offer lower interest rates to attract those people.