Did exclusion from RBNZ cheap money hurt Heartland?

CFO Andrew Dixson said other banks had cheaper funding. (Image: Heartland)

Thu, 02 Mar 2023

Was Heartland Bank hard done by because it couldn’t access the Reserve Bank’s covid-era cheap funding scheme, known as the funding for lending programme (FLP)?You’d have to think so, from what the company said in the press release on its results and during its conference call with analysts.The FLP scheme began in December 2020 and ended on Dec 6 last year. It allowed banks to borrow from the Reserve Bank in proportion to their balance sheets.The loans were for three years and the cost was whatever the official cash rate (OCR)...

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