News
New Zealand market participants are confident the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s planned sell-down of some assets acquired in its QE programme should be manageable without major digestion issues. However, key details of the scheme – scheduled to start in the 2022/23 financial year – are yet to be finalised or disclosed.
The much-awaited first Australian rates decision of 2022 did little to resolve the biggest talking point in the local market over the preceding year: the disparity between the Reserve Bank of Australia’s relatively dovish outlook and market expectations. Analysts continue to expect inflation and wages growth will force the reserve bank’s hand at some stage this year.
Metlifecare New Zealand’s execution of the country’s first environmental, social and governance interest rate swap will further the development and encourage wider uptake of sustainable finance, according to deal sources. The transaction helps lower the cost of the interest rate hedge on Metlifecare’s recently completed sustainability-linked loan.
National Australia Bank pursued an intraday execution strategy to avoid market volatility for its first Australian dollar senior deal of 2022. The issuer says support from across the investor base, including notable offshore interest, drove a record domestic print.
National Australia Bank pursued an intraday execution strategy to avoid market volatility for its first Australian dollar senior deal of 2022. The issuer says support from across the investor base, including notable offshore interest, drove a record domestic print.
Growing market uncertainty driven by geopolitical tension has not yet been sufficient to hinder Australian dollar deals, highlighted by United Overseas Bank Sydney Branch’s record volume issuance on 17 February. Deal sources say the transaction achieved a record Australian dollar book for the issuer and highly competitive pricing.
IDB Invest says it selected the green-bond format for its latest Australian dollar bond to underline its commitment to climate change mitigation. It is the issuer’s first-ever green bond issued in any public market.
Inter-American Development Bank successfully placed a NZ$400 million (US$264.6 million) deal on 9 February, following decent flow the month prior. The issuer says it is eyeing further Kauri activity later this year.
Westpac New Zealand priced the first domestic bank deal of the year at the wide end of guidance and the secondary bank curve steepened after pricing, but the issuer says the deal reflected fair value in a reset market. Meanwhile, ANZ kept New Zealand bank issuance flow active with a substantial foray into the US dollar market.
Deal sources say New South Wales Treasury Corporation’s latest use-of-proceeds sustainability bond found solid interest from offshore Asia investors despite elevated interest rate volatility. The issuer also confirms its commitment to remaining active through all types of market conditions.
Like the Australian corporate debt market as a whole, the local sustainable debt space has progressed in leaps and bounds over recent years but still has a mountain to climb. The emergence of sustainability-linked instruments has opened the sustainable-debt door to a new range of borrowers, while investors are increasingly integrating sustainability principles in their credit processes. Participants at a roundtable convened by KangaNews and Westpac Institutional Bank in November discuss their sustainability journeys and how they are preparing for the climb ahead.
Having celebrated his 30th anniversary with Westpac Banking Corporation in 2021, chief economist Bill Evans is in a unique position to view the challenges facing markets and economies thanks to his deep understanding of how they have responded to comparable events in the past. Evans speaks to KangaNews about the economic outlook, the wealth trade-off between wage earners and asset owners, the risk of deglobalisation and how sustainability is factoring in to his forecasting.