“(Treasury’s) NZ Debt Management passed the test,” fixed income and currency strategist at Harbour Asset Management Hamish Pepper said.
“It was not quite the $4.5b that I estimated would be needed for remaining tenders this fiscal year to be unchanged, but close.”
The bond market was already facing an enlarged borrowing requirement before the cyclone ripped through much of the North Island.
The Government’s fiscal update, issued in December, raised its borrowing plan for the current fiscal year (to June 30) by $3b from an earlier forecast, to $28b.
The December update also outlined plans to raise $30b apiece in the 2023/24 and 2024/25 fiscal years, before easing back $20b in 2025/26.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson has talked about the cyclone repair bill as being in the same league as the Christchurch earthquakes - around $13b, including insurance.
Analysts stressed that New Zealand’s credit rating is high, relative to many other countries, and that its levels of debt are lower than most.
S&P Global Ratings has an AA Plus foreign currency credit rating on New Zealand sovereign debt, with a stable outlook.