Latest / Best of Business / Claire Matthews: Massey University banking expert on the Government critiquing the banks' withdrawal of lending to petrol stations

Transcript

Claire Matthews: Massey University banking expert on the Government critiquing the banks' withdrawal of lending to petrol stations · Best of Business

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talk zed B.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Follow this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Now It's time for banking. The Prime Minister has joined
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: the Shane Jones chorus of banking critics, suggesting the government
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: will soon look to make banks lend to customers that
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: they don't want to lend to.
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  Speaker 3: It's utterly unacceptable, utterly unacceptable, and that's what we've got
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: to change. And we've made it very clear in our
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: comments and I hope the bank CEOs are noticing our language,
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: which is you've got to finance things that Kiwi's need
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  Speaker 3: and not financing service stations or coal companies. Those are
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: things that New Zealand needs. And so whether it's been
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: the benz On service stations or any other other banks,
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  Speaker 3: their job is not politically posturing. Their job is to
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  Speaker 3: finance the things that Kiwis need. They don't want this
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: political posturing going on bn Zen, you know, they want
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: to not fund service stations in provincial New Zealand for example. Well,
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: we've got two to three percent electric vehicle penetration at
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  Speaker 3: the moment. It ain't going to change in a hurry.
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: And frankly that's not their decision.
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  Speaker 2: Now the Prime Minister is using some rhetoric here, but
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  Speaker 2: he hasn't actually said he's going to change the law. However,
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  Speaker 2: there are some who think you might be edging towards it.
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  Speaker 2: If Shane Jones has a private member's bill, will that
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  Speaker 2: be enough? Clear, Matthews, is the massive university banking expect clear?
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: Good evening, plum Ryan. Can the government force banks to
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  Speaker 2: can you regulate and say you have to take this
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  Speaker 2: customer or that customer?
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  Speaker 4: Absolutely? If the government wants to put regulation in place,
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  Speaker 4: that is an option available to them, But I would
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  Speaker 4: caution them to think about what are the unintended consequences
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  Speaker 4: of doing that.
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  Speaker 2: We're worth very little to them, aren't we. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: would do you think they'd pull out if we said
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  Speaker 2: you have to you have to lend to every petrol station,
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  Speaker 2: every dairy farmer, every mine that they would throw their
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: weight around.
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  Speaker 4: Absolutely. If the government starts telling the banks what they
• 2:01
  Speaker 4: have to do, then it is very much open to
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  Speaker 4: the banks to say, actually it's too complicated. You're dictating
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: too much we can and can't do. And therefore, you
• 2:11
  Speaker 4: know the reality is the Zeland market is not that
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  Speaker 4: important to us. We're going to withdraw it, and good
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  Speaker 4: luck to you in terms of getting the economy operating
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  Speaker 4: without banks.
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  Speaker 2: Why isn't there a bank that turns up in a
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  Speaker 2: situation like this and says, hey, I'll lend to those people.
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  Speaker 4: Well, I think that actually tells you about the desirability
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  Speaker 4: of lending to them, because if there is a desirability
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  Speaker 4: of leading to them, somebody would do just that. One
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  Speaker 4: of the issues is that while this government appears to
• 2:41
  Speaker 4: be somewhat more in favor of fossil fuels and those
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  Speaker 4: types of energy sources, we've seen just recently a government
• 2:52
  Speaker 4: that was trying to move away from that, and so
• 2:55
  Speaker 4: the risks at the bank's face if they get too
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: involved in providing lending and banking services to those types
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  Speaker 4: of entities is that in three six years time, another
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  Speaker 4: government comes in and says, actually we're going back to
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  Speaker 4: what the Labor government during their last term. We're going
• 3:10
  Speaker 4: to move away from fossil fuels, and the banks could
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  Speaker 4: end up with a lame duck customer and considerable loss.
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: Could the government regulate to say just on Kiev Bank
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  Speaker 2: and say you have to take you know what you
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: have to be basically the orphanage for all those who
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  Speaker 2: are rejected by the big banks.
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  Speaker 4: Absolutely, and to some extent that's one of the things
• 3:33
  Speaker 4: that Keevy Bank was talked about being not just for
• 3:37
  Speaker 4: businesses but for all sorts of customers. But again, you've
• 3:40
  Speaker 4: still got the risk that if in doing that, okay,
• 3:44
  Speaker 4: Kevy Bank may not move out of the country because
• 3:46
  Speaker 4: obviously they'll continue to operate, but there's a risk to
• 3:49
  Speaker 4: the government and that if it all turns to custom
• 3:53
  Speaker 4: that they're going to have to bail out Kivi Bank.
• 3:56
  Speaker 4: It's also the risk that well, not so much the risk,
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  Speaker 4: but there's a question as to where the Key bank
• 4:01
  Speaker 4: has the facility and the resources to be able to
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  Speaker 4: actually take on many of those customers in the short term.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: The Prime Minister says that the banks are listening to
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  Speaker 2: his rhetoric. Do you think they do pay attention when
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: I mean, the thing is, it's not just Christopher lux
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: and it's been Nikola Willis before that, it was just
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: Cinda Adurn and Chris Hipkins and anyone who's in power
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  Speaker 2: just sort of bashes them with a big stick, and
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: the media almost as like a part of national cathartic pastime.
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  Speaker 2: Do you think they care?
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  Speaker 4: Oh, absolutely, they care, and they are paining close attention
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  Speaker 4: to what was being said and they will be considering
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  Speaker 4: their response. So I'm confident that they are listening, that
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  Speaker 4: they are taking notes, but their response may not be
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  Speaker 4: the response that the government is looking for.
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  Speaker 2: Clear Matthew's banking expert, a Massi University thinks so much
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  Speaker 2: of your time.
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