Put national interest test in bank contract - Greens
The Green Party wants a public interest test put into the tender that the Government has put out for its banking contract.
The Green Party wants a public interest test put into the tender that the Government has put out for its banking contract.
Westpac has been the Government's banker for more than 20 years, with regular renewals, and for the first time the contract is being put out through a competitive tender process.
The Greens say Kiwibank should hold the contract because it is a New Zealand-owned bank.
Party co-leader Russel Norman said today a national interest test in the tender process would ensure that New Zealand banks such as Kiwibank could get at least some of the contract.
"The bottom line is this -- it's not in New Zealand's long-term interests to have 95 percent of our banking industry controlled by four foreign-owned banks that send a majority of all their profits offshore," he said.
"It's a major structural vulnerability in our economy."
NZPA
Wed, 08 Jun 2011
Wed, 08 Jun 2011
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Put national interest test in bank contract - Greens
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