'Council bond bank a funding option'

A bond bank for councils is being investigated to help finance $30 billion in planned infrastructure spending over the next decades.

Finance Minister Bill English said it is hoped a bond bank would lower local council's cost of borrowing.

The idea was floated at the Prime Minister's Job Summit in February.

Mr English said a study will look at whether combining councils' borrowing needs would result in lower interest rates and transaction costs and how a bond bank would work.

"We are sympathetic to any arrangement that can lower the cost of local authority borrowing and we are keen to help councils work together to see if they can do this. Any arrangement that comes out of this process will be entirely voluntary," Mr English said.

He said a joint Government and Local Government New Zealand committee is expecting to receive the study in about a month.

President of Local Government New Zealand Lawrence Yule said he welcomed the study.

So far the Job Summit has produced three ideas to save jobs including the nine day working fortnight, which has so far saved a few hundred jobs and the nation-wide cycle circuit which has not created any jobs so far.

- NZ HERALD STAFF