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UNCLASSIFIED

Kia Ora

 

Please find attached our response to your request.

 

Regards

 

Philip

 

 

Philip (Piripi) Rossiter

Senior Advisor – Ministerial Services

  Reserve Bank of New Zealand – Te
Pūtea Matua

2 The Terrace, Wellington 6011.  
PO Box 2498, Wellington 6140
[3][IMG] [4][IMG] [5][IMG] [6][IMG] [7][IMG]
E 
[1][email address]  
W [2]rbnz.govt.nz

 

 

 

 

UNCLASSIFIED

From: Sam Brown <[FOI #33465 email]>
Sent: Thursday, 8 January 2026 6:35 pm
To: Ministerial correspondence Mailbox <[RBNZ request email]>
Subject: Official Information request - Credit market dynamics for rural
infrastructure financing

 

Dear Reserve Bank of New Zealand,

Under the Official Information Act 1982, I request:

1. Any analysis, research, or supervisory observations regarding bank
lending practices for specialised infrastructure assets in rural or
regional contexts, particularly where:
- Assets have specialised use cases with limited secondary markets (e.g.,
telecommunications towers, network equipment, industry-specific
infrastructure)
- Borrowers lack residential property security but operate viable
businesses with stable cash flows
- Asset illiquidity rather than business credit risk appears to constrain
lending decisions

2. Any assessment of whether regulatory capital requirements, risk
weighting frameworks, or lending standards create systematic barriers to
financing certain infrastructure types, even where underlying business
fundamentals are sound.

3. Any observations from bank supervision activities regarding whether
commercial banks adequately serve infrastructure financing needs in rural
areas, or whether gaps exist that constrain economic development or
essential service provision.

4. Any advice provided to government regarding:
- Credit market gaps or failures in rural or infrastructure financing
- Whether Crown development finance, guarantees, or alternative mechanisms
could address market failures without displacing viable commercial lending
- International approaches to rural infrastructure financing where
commercial credit markets are insufficient

I understand the Reserve Bank's primary focus is monetary policy and
financial stability rather than sectoral development policy, but request
any observations relevant to credit market functioning and potential
market failures in rural infrastructure financing.

Context: Some evidence suggests that rural infrastructure providers may
face systematic financing barriers related to asset characteristics rather
than credit risk, potentially representing a market failure. I am seeking
to understand whether such barriers have been observed or analysed.

Yours faithfully,

Sam Brown

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