Latest / The Kākā by Bernard Hickey
S&P slams new Govt's council finance vacuum
TL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has downgraded the outlooks for the debt issued by 15 councils, immediately increasing borrowing costs and forcing rates increases that will further inflate living costs and keep pressure on the Reserve Bank to keep mortgage rates high.
S&P blamed the new Government’s decision to repeal Three Waters and the resulting uncertainty about how councils would pay to repair and expand infrastructure needed to cope with 1.5-2% per year population growth enabled over the last 20 years by both parties running the Beehive. High population growth boosts GST and…
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