The New Zealand Debt Management Office (NZDMO) has updated its borrowing plans for the next five years after the Treasury forecast in its Pre-Election Fiscal and Economic Update that the government was on track to be in surplus by 2014/15.
The NZDMO said it had kept its bond issuance programme for the current 2011/12 year at a gross total of NZ$13.5 billion and a net NZ$5.9 billion of new bonds after the refinancing of maturing bonds.
Gross bond issuance in 2012/13 would be NZ$12 billion with net issuance of NZ$1 billion. Gross issurance of NZ$10 billion in 2013/14 would be the same as net issurance.
Gross issuance in 2014/15 would be NZ$8 billion, with a net repayment forecast of NZ$2.0 billion that year. There would be net issuance of NZ$3.0 billion in 2015/16 and gross issuance of NZ$5 billion.
This meant total gross issuance over the five forecast years would be NZ$48.5 billion, while net extra debt would be NZ$17.9 billion.
The NZDMO said its NZ$20 billion of pre-funding in 2010/11 meant the government had covered any additional costs linked to the Christchurch earthquake.
The NZDMO borrowed NZ$900 million last week and a record equalling NZ$1 billion in late September.
The NZDMO also said "due to uncertain global market conditions" the issuance of a 20 September 2025 inflation indexed bond was more likely to be undertaken in the second half of the current 2011/12 fiscal year.
It said the maximum tranche size for bonds maturing on April 15, 2013 and April 15, 2015 would be increased from NZ$10 billion to NZ$12 billion, "consistent with longer nominal bond maturities."
See our profile for the April 15, 2013 government bond here and see our profile for the April 15, 2015 bond here.
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