(15 November 2012 – New Zealand) International credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) said the New Zealand banking system remained vulnerable to “external pressures” but gave a stable outlook for all banks.S&P deemed New Zealand bank ratings were “robust” by international standards but they will need to navigate through a range of domestic and overseas issues that had “brought on downward rating pressure for the banking system”.
All the big, Australian-owned banks have strong “AA minus” stable credit ratings, including ANZ, ASB, BNZ and Westpac.
Similar to Australia, New Zealand’s private sector is “highly indebted” S&P said, leaving it vulnerable to a downturn in global economic and financial market conditions.
S&P said that underpinning the present stable outlook was a rise in household savings relative to income levels and a fall in the appetite for debt. That reduced the vulnerability of households to a worsening economy.