Govt resisting pressure to inject more cash into Solid Energy

Mon, 02 Mar 2015

By Pattrick Smellie March 2 (BusinessDesk) - Prime Minister John Key says it is "not the government's preferred option" to make a fresh capital injection into the troubled state-owned coal miner, Solid Energy, but dodged journalists' questions at his weekly press conference on whether that might prove necessary, insisting the company and its banks were responsible for its debts. Asked whether Solid Energy was depending for its ability to trade on its "implicit government guarantee", Key said: "No. It still has equity and cash in the bank....

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