It is "feeling the impact" and preparing for tough times
As COVID-19 continues to impact New Zealand’s economy, BNZ expects that some of its customers would have a difficult time before the country recovers.
In its latest half-year results, BNZ has predicted that the New Zealand economy would contract 9%, the unemployment rate would rise to 10%, and house prices would drop by 10%.
NAB, BNZ’s parent company, confirmed that it has started feeling the impact of the pandemic – earning only A$1.44 billion from the first half of 2019, down 51.4% from the previous months. Its statutory net profit totalled only $367 million, a decrease of $183 million, following increased credit impairment change and software capitalisation policy change.
Angela Mentis, chief executive of BNZ, told Stuff.co.nz that the country might face a sharp decline in the following months such as higher unemployment, decrease in rents, and less wage growth. On the bright side, a sharp decline could lead to a fast recovery.
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Mentis revealed that she, along with BNZ’s executive team, would donate 50% of take-home pay to charities for the next six months. The bank provided business assistance to over 17,200 customers, home loan support to over 21,000 customers, and more than 1,000 applications to the government-backed business loan scheme.
“The impact of COVID-19 has affected us all, and we have decided that this is the right decision to make as we support our customers,” she told Stuff.co.nz.
She said BNZ’s regional branches would remain open until 2022 as customers continue to adapt to online banking.
