Not making the change is an acknowledgement that the bank can't provide those services, it says
Social Credit is urging the government to move all its banking businesses to the fully Kiwi-owned Kiwibank.
Despite taking full ownership of the bank in August, the government continues to do nearly all its banking business with Westpac or ANZ, it was claimed.
“The current regime means taxpayers are funding the profits of Australian-owned banks through fees for banking business of the government and its various departments and state-owned enterprises,” Social Credit Party said.
“That’s a transfer of wealth out of the pockets of taxpayers’ and directly into the pockets of wealthy overseas bank shareholders. Those massive profits put an enormous strain on the economy as they are exported to the overseas shareholders, using precious overseas funds earned by our exporters to do so.”
The party noted that taxpayers already funded the $2 billion borrowed to complete the purchase and are having to pay the interest on it.
“If Kiwibank provided all government banking services, the profits from the bank would go back to the government offsetting those interest charges and could also be spent on health, housing, education, police, and a host of other services which desperately need a boost in their budget allocation,” the party said.
It said that not making the change is an “an acknowledgement that Kiwibank does not have the capability to provide those services.”
“Taxpayers have the right to see their hard-earned tax dollars supporting New Zealand enterprises not those on Wall Street or in the City of London,” the Social Credit Party said.
What’s your take on the issue? Share it in the comments below.
