By Paul McBeth
May 30 (BusinessDesk) - The government will borrow an extra $6 billion over the next five years to cover a shortfall in
its cash flows to meet a $41.1 billion capital spending programme.
The New Zealand Debt Management Office will issue $8 billion in the year ending June 30, rising to $10 billion of
government bonds in the 2020 and 2021 financial years, falling to $8 billion and $6 billion in the following years.
That’s an extra $5 billion of net bond issuance over the five-year horizon, and the DMO said it will issue an extra $1
billion of Treasury bills in 2020.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson last week signalled plans for a more flexible debt target range of 15-to-25 percent of
GDP from the 2022 financial year.
The government has faced calls to take on more debt to fund infrastructure spending at a time when it’s able to sell
bonds at sub-2 percent yields.
The self-imposed budget responsibility rules target net debt of 20 percent, a level the Treasury predicts the government
will track over the next four years.
The DMO will issue $42 billion of gross bonds over the horizon, with $37 billion of maturities and repurchases, leaving
it with $79.2 billion on issue in 2023.
The $3 billion of Treasury bills will rise to $4 billion in the 2021 year, before falling back to $3 billion in 2023.
The DMO expects to issue $500 million of inflation-indexed bonds in the 2020 financial year.