More than half of the $257 million loan book held by the Government entity formerly known as the Provincial Growth Fund is considered to be at risk of impairment or default.
The surge in at-risk loan advances made by Crown Regional Holdings (CRH) – a vehicle used by the Government to warehouse policies intended to promote provincial growth or regional infrastructure – were laid bare in its long-delayed annual report tabled to Parliament late last week.
The report, to June 2024, shows the proportion of loans advanced that were considered to be at a “significant increase in risk” of impairment or default reached 54% of the total book at balance date – up from 40% a year earlier.
This is a great example of why taxpayers shouldn’t do corporate welfare loans. Taxpayers are now at risk of losing over $100 million, which could have been spent on health or education. Banks, not Governments, should do loans.
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders.
4 comments:
I agree with the article and acknowledge that $100M is a lot of money the country can't afford, but it pales into insignificance compared to the billions of dollars given to Iwi, which is also corporate welfare.
Thx for the post David. It will be very useful to know:
- Who approved.the loans
- on what basis were the loans approved
- were conflicts of interest identified and If so how were they.managed?
In short...
Who received our money and Who gave it to them?
Wasn’t the provincial growth fund originally Shane Jones’ slush fund as allocated by Ardern & Robertson? Or have I got my wires crossed?
Yeah, a NZ1 grift.
Post a Comment