We rely on the willingness of foreigners to lend to us, and to continue to lend to us, in order to fund our homes and our businesses.
New Zealand’s net foreign liabilities – the difference between what we owe the rest of the world (our liabilities) and what the rest of the world owes us (our assets) – are high relative to most other developed economies. While most of our offshore funding is hedged we are vulnerable to disruptions in global financial markets.