Infrastructure unit to broker deals
May 21st, 2009
The new infrastructure unit based in the treasury will be expected to broker deals between investors and infrastructure projects, giving the private sector broader access to roading and other major developments. According to Finance Minister, Bill English’s office the infrastructure unit’s brief “will be deliberately wide.”
Tower Investments CEO, Sam Stubbs, has proposed Public KiwiSaver Partnerships to allocate pension funds directly into core infrastructure projects, a proposal he says could speed developments such as Wellington’s northern corridor. English’s office says the allocation of Kiwisaver funds will be down to individual providers and the landscape for potential pools of funds is broader than the KiwiSaver scheme.
NZ has typically lacked the funding vehicles to allocate capital into infrastructure projects in the way the UK, for example, has. Transport Minister, Steven Joyce, says there are two separate streams of work in play as regards transport infrastructure funding. First up the NZTA is considering the future shape of the transport fund and how it will be allocated to the seven major highway projects. At the same time, the infrastructure unit is looking more broadly at funding options. The Govt is expected shortly to announce the executive director of the infrastructure unit.
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