Turning the Tap: Show me the money

Water NZ chief executive Gillian Blythe says ability to borrow more is a 'game changer'. (Image: NZME)

Tue, 15 Oct 2024

This is the second article in a series. Read part one here. Paying to upgrade New Zealand’s ageing water infrastructure will not be cheap.Estimates by the previous Government put the price tag over 30 years at eye-watering levels – perhaps as much as $185 billion.For local councils, many were already close to their maximum borrowing limits before facing a credit rating downgrade, and funding such an enormous capital sum seemed imponderable.However, low-key announcements in August by the Local Government Funding Authority (LGFA)...

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