Dear Treasury,

Under the Official Information Act 1982, I request:

1. Any analysis, policy advice, or precedent studies regarding Crown loan guarantee or credit enhancement programmes for infrastructure providers, including:
- Circumstances where government underwrites commercial loans rather than providing direct capital
- Cost-benefit analysis of loan guarantees versus direct infrastructure spending
- Risk assessment frameworks for determining when Crown guarantees are appropriate
- International examples where governments use loan guarantees to address infrastructure financing gaps

2. Any advice to Ministers regarding whether loan guarantee mechanisms could address capital access barriers in rural telecommunications or other infrastructure sectors, including:
- Whether such programmes would represent better value for money than direct subsidies or service payments
- Fiscal risk assessment of guarantee programmes versus other intervention types
- Whether enabling local infrastructure providers to access commercial capital serves government objectives more efficiently than alternative approaches

3. Any analysis of Crown loan guarantee programmes currently operating in New Zealand (such as housing, business lending, agriculture, or other sectors) including:
- Programme design, eligibility criteria, and risk management approaches
- Fiscal costs and default rates
- Economic outcomes and whether programmes achieved policy objectives
- Whether similar models could apply to rural infrastructure financing

4. Any assessment of whether Crown loan guarantees for rural telecommunications infrastructure providers would:
- Address identified market failures at lower fiscal cost than alternatives
- Enable competition and consumer choice without ongoing subsidy requirements
- Support regional economic development through local business growth
- Provide better long-term value than funding foreign-operated alternatives

5. Any advice on appropriate risk assessment, pricing, or eligibility frameworks for infrastructure loan guarantee programmes, including how to ensure Crown exposure is appropriately managed while achieving policy objectives.

Context: Commercial lenders appear to decline rural telecommunications infrastructure financing due to asset illiquidity concerns rather than business viability, creating systematic capital access barriers. I am seeking to understand whether Crown loan guarantee mechanisms could address this market failure efficiently, and what precedents or frameworks exist for such programmes.

Yours faithfully,

Sam Brown