Asset sales plans won't include Kiwibank: Key

HAMISH RUTHERFORD AND KATE CHAPMAN
Last updated 08:46 04/03/2013
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Prime Minister John Key insists there are no plans to sell off Kiwibank despite investment bankers being hired to look over the state-owned bank's books.

Last week the Treasury announced that it had hired Goldman Sachs to look at the operations of Kiwibank, a subsidiary of New Zealand Post, the same week the Government received the green light to proceed with the partial sale of Mighty River Power.

Appearing on TV One's Breakfast this morning, Key faced questions over whether the banking giant had been hired to prepare Kiwibank for sale.

''There's no intention to sell Kiwibank, we've made some strong commitments there,'' Key said.

''My understanding is that Kiwibank, which is rapidly emerging as that sort of growth business for New Zealand Post, they want more capital from the Government.

''And so, the Government, or Treasury, has hired Goldman Sachs to have a look at the whole business, and see what the growth opportunities look like to make sure they're on the right track, all those things, and just to generally give us an assessment, but it's not with a view to sale.''

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