Finance Minister Bill English said investor interest in Mighty River Power showed there was enough demand to partially sell Meridian Energy and Genesis.
English told Radio New Zealand this morning Treasury had forecast that about 225,000 investors would buy shares in Mighty River Power - the number of people who bought Contact Energy shares when that company was floated in the late 1990s.
But Treasury's expectations have not been met. English said more sophisticated investors had the skills and interest to calculate what the risks were, but conceded the opposition parties' proposal was enough to deter 'mum and dad' investors.
English said these investors would not be put off future share floats as the impact of the Labour - Greens policy wore off.
"The relevance of the Labour/Greens policy is going to fade as people realise it probably won't be implemented and couldn't have the impact they are promising.
