New Zealand Debt Management Office Accessibility Skip to content. Skip to navigation

New Zealand
Debt Management Office
Publication

New Zealand Economic and Financial Overview 2009

International securities regulations require that visitors read and acknowledge the disclaimer below before accessing information on this web site. Click Acknowledge and Hide Disclaimer below to hide the full disclaimer (requires JavaScript to be enabled).

Disclaimer - New Zealand Debt Management Office Web Site

  1. The information on this web site is issued by the New Zealand Debt Management Office (NZDMO) for informational purposes. It does not contain and is not an invitation or offer to buy or sell securities. Insofar as this web site refers to any offerings of securities, such offerings are directed to countries other than the United States and no offerings are made to persons accessing this web site within Australia.
  2. The NZDMO takes reasonable measures to ensure the quality of the data and other information produced by the NZDMO that is made available on this web site. However, the NZDMO makes no warranty, express or implied, nor assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, correctness, completeness or use of any information that is available on or through this web site nor represents that its use would not infringe on privately owned rights. Further information contained on this web site is subject to change, completion or amendment without notice. Nothing contained on this web site is, or shall be relied on as a promise or representation by the New Zealand Government or the NZDMO as to the past or future. The contents of this web site should not be construed as legal, business or tax advice.
  3. This is a protected New Zealand Government web site. It is unlawful to intentionally cause damage to it or to any NZDMO electronic facility or data through the knowing transmission of any program, information, code, or command.
  4. The NZDMO systems to which this web site connects and related equipment are subject to monitoring. Information regarding users may be obtained and disclosed to authorised personnel, including law enforcement authorities, for official purposes. Access to or use of this web site constitutes consent to these terms.
  5. Reference to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacture, or otherwise does not constitute an endorsement, recommendation, or favouring by the New Zealand government or the NZDMO.
  6. For convenience and informational purposes only, the NZDMO server provides links to other web sites. These sites may contain information that is the copyright of third parties and subject to restrictions on reuse. Permission to use copyrighted materials must be obtained from the copyright owner and cannot be obtained from the NZDMO.
  7. The NZDMO is not responsible for the content of other web sites linked to or referenced from the NZDMO site. The NZDMO neither endorses the information, content, presentation, or accuracy of such web sites, nor makes any warranty, express or implied, regarding these external web sites.
  8. Each page on this web site must be read in conjunction with this disclaimer and any other disclaimer that forms part of it.
  9. By clicking on "Acknowledge and Hide Disclaimer" below, I confirm that I am either:
    1. resident outside of the European Economic Area; or
    2. person acting solely in my capacity as an authorised representative of an entity falling within one of the following descriptions:
      1. a legal entity authorised or regulated to operate in the financial markets, including: a credit institution, or investment firm, an other authorised or regulated financial institution, or insurance company, a collective investment scheme, a collective scheme management company, a pension fund, a pension fund management company, a commodity dealer, or an entity not so authorised or regulated but whose corporate purpose is solely to invest in securities;
      2. a national or regional government, a central bank, an international or supranational institution such as the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank, the European Investment Bank or other similar international organisations; or
      3. a legal entity which has two or more of (1) an average of at least 250 employees during the last financial year; (2) a total balance sheet of more than €43,000,000 and (3) an annual net turnover of more than €50,000,000, as shown in its last annual or consolidated accounts.

Disclaimer: The information on this web site is issued by the New Zealand Debt Management Office (NZDMO) for informational purposes. It does not contain and is not an invitation or offer to buy or sell securities. Each page on this web site must be read in conjunction with the disclaimer at http://www.nzdmo.govt.nz.

Government Enterprises

State-Owned Enterprises

In May 1986, the government announced a major programme for reform of government enterprises. The aim of the reforms was to improve the efficiency and accountability of the enterprises and reduce the government's exposure to business risk. To this end, the government restructured a large number of its departmental trading activities and established them as businesses operating on a basis as close as possible to private sector companies.

SOEs are required to operate on the basis of principles and procedures contained in the State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986. Under the Act, the boards of SOEs have complete autonomy on operational matters, such as to how resources are used, pricing and marketing of output. Competitive advantages and disadvantages, including barriers to entry, have been removed, first, so that commercial criteria provide an objective assessment of performance and, secondly, to increase efficiency. Under the Act, SOEs have no responsibility for continuing non-commercial operations and the government is required to negotiate an explicit contract if it wishes an SOE to carry out such activities.

Boards of directors drawn from the private sector have been formed to manage SOEs. Each board is required to present to the shareholding Ministers a statement of corporate intent and an outline of business objectives, defining the nature and scope of activities and performance targets. These are closely monitored and SOEs are expected to achieve performance targets and pay dividends on a basis comparable to their private sector competitors. The shareholding Ministers may determine the levels of the dividends.

The SOEs borrow in their own names and on their own credit, in most cases without a guarantee or other form of credit support from the Government. All SOEs have been informed that Government policy requires that they disclaim in loan documentation the existence of such guarantees or credit supports.

Crown Entities

Crown Entity is a collective term for bodies owned by the Crown that are not departments, Offices of Parliament or State-Owned Enterprises. Crown Entities range from Crown Research Institutes to regulatory bodies, such as the Commerce Commission and the Securities Commission. Crown Entities are required to table their annual financial statements in Parliament.

Page top