$l7m Loan From Germany

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31724, 6 July 1968, Page 1

$l7m Loan From Germany

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, July 5. Arrangements were being made to raise a 10-year loan for about 80 million deutschmarks (SNZI7m), the Minister of Finance (Mr Muldoon) announced tonight.

"Bearing in mind the large overseas content in the country’s national development programme—with its influ-

ence on unemployment—overseas borrowing of this amount is justified,” Mr Muldoon said in a statement. Longer-term financing was desirable for development purposes, although current short-term obligations were being liquidated. The loan will be underwritten by a group comprising financial houses in Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States. “The terms will be as favourable as can be obtained overseas at the present time,” he said. The rate of interest would be 7 per cent and the issue price would be fixed shortly before the signing of the subscription agreement—expected to take place in Dusseldorf, Western Germany, about July 17.

There was more competition at present for funds in the Euro-bond markets, he said. “In particular, the measures taken recently by the United States to restrict capital outflow have increased the demands for capital funds “This could reduce the availability and increase the cost of finance in these markets,” he said.