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The Star
3 days ago
- Business
- The Star
New Zealand draft infrastructure plan outlines need for more hospitals, electricity
FILE PHOTO: The view of the entrance to the hospital in Whakatane, New Zealand, December 10, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Silva/File Photo WELLINGTON (Reuters) -New Zealand on Wednesday released a draft 30-year national infrastructure plan, which highlighted a need for the country to invest more in hospitals and electricity production and to prepare to spend more on responding to national disasters. The plan aims to improve infrastructure preparations and introduce a less politically driven approach to infrastructure investment, which critics say has been impacted by electoral cycles with the stop-start results being costly for large projects. 'We want the National Infrastructure Plan to help build common ground about our areas of need and what is affordable for Kiwis, giving the Government of the day guidance for making decisions about infrastructure,' said Geoff Cooper, chief executive of the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission. The draft plan said the country needed to establish affordable and sustainable funding, make it easier to build new infrastructure, prioritise maintaining current infrastructure and assess the readiness of projects before they are funded. While New Zealand was in the top 10% of the OECD in its infrastructure spend as a percentage of gross domestic product, it was not getting the returns it should, it added. To meet demand, annual capital investment would need to increase from around NZ$20 billion ($12 billion) today to slightly more than NZ$30 billion by the 2050s, according to the plan. The New Zealand government has outlined plans to boost the infrastructure build in the country, and earlier this year hosted an infrastructure investment summit to promote foreign investment in the country's infrastructure. 'The Government is determined to improve New Zealand's infrastructure system and to work alongside the industry and other political parties to establish a broad consensus about what needs to change,' said Chris Bishop, Minister for Infrastructure. The finalised plan is expected to be released at the end of the year and will be discussed by parliament in early 2026. ($1 = 1.6565 New Zealand dollars) (Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
The Star
10-06-2025
- Business
- The Star
Mexico eases trade ban on Brazilian chicken
FILE PHOTO: Chicken is displayed in a fridge in a market in Sao Paulo, Brazil May 20, 2025. REUTERS/Jorge Silva/File Photo SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Mexico eased a ban on chicken shipments from Brazil, setting the restriction now only to products coming from the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, instead of a previous countrywide ban, Brazil's Agriculture Ministry said on Tuesday. On the other hand, the ministry said in a statement that Mauritania announced a countrywide ban on imports of Brazilian chicken, while Oman suspended chicken imports coming from Rio Grande do Sul state. Brazil last month identified a case of bird flu on a commercial farm in Rio Grande do Sul, triggering trade restrictions from dozens of countries. (Reporting by Andre Romani; Editing by Kylie Madry)
Straits Times
22-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
US climate pullback threatens planned debt-for-nature deals
FILE PHOTO: A drone view shows bleached corals on the reef at the Costa dos Corais, in Japaratinga, in the State of Alagoas, in Brazil, April 16, 2024. REUTERS/Jorge Silva/File Photo LONDON - Billions of dollars of debt deals aimed at protecting vital ecosystems from Africa to Latin America are at risk of unravelling or may need rework amid concerns that crucial U.S. backing is about to dry up under President Donald Trump. The 'debt-for-nature' swaps, which reduce a country's debt in return for conservation commitments, have gained traction in recent years with deals involving the Galapagos Islands, coral reefs and the Amazon rainforest among the most prominent. The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has been a key player, providing political risk insurance for over half of the deals done over the last five years, accounting for nearly 90% of $6 billion of swapped debt. A source with direct knowledge of the plans said the DFC had about five swaps in the pipeline which are now in question with CEO-in-waiting Ben Black and U.S. government efficiency chief Elon Musk both criticising its climate work. The source did not specify how much debt was covered by the swaps but pointed out that the last few DFC-backed deals involved over $1 billion each. Spokespeople for the White House and the DFC did not respond to requests for comment on future DFC involvement in such deals. A DFC official who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed to Reuters it stepped down earlier this year as co-chair of a global task force set up in 2023 to expand the use of debt swaps. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has also hit out at multilateral lenders for climate change work amid a broader U.S. retreat that has seen it withdraw from the Paris Agreement to curb global warming. Angola and Zambia and at least one Latin American country are among those whose 'debt-for-nature' swap plans risk needing to be reworked or even abandoned due to DFC uncertainty, four sources that have been directly involved in the projects said. Angolan Finance Minister Vera Daves de Sousa said her country, which is one of the most indebted in Africa and whose rivers feed the Okavango basin vital for endangered elephants and lions, has been talking to the DFC about two potential swaps. One is a debt-for-nature deal, the other a broader 'debt-for-development' swap tied to education and young people. "We feel openness from them (DFC), but especially on the debt-for-development swap," de Sousa recently told Reuters. "We respect their vision," she added. "For us there is no difference – we have opportunities on the development side, and we have opportunities on the nature side." In Zambia, which late last year was looking closely at a swap linked to its vast national parks that are home to over 40% of Africa's elephants, things have changed too. "We are not completely shutting (the swap) down but we are not actively at it right now," its Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane told Reuters, declining to specify the reason for the shift. NEW REALITY Generating money for conservation by exchanging costly government bonds for cheaper ones is seen as an obvious choice for smaller nations grappling with heavy debt loads and climate change pressures. The UK-based, non-profit International Institute for Environment and Development estimates that the world's 49 poorest countries seen most at risk of debt crises could swap a quarter of the over $430 billion they now owe. Given the signals coming from Washington, those that do should drop hopes of DFC support and look at alternatives, said White Advisory managing director Sebastian Espinosa, who has advised Barbados, Belize and Seychelles on such swaps. Those could include credit guarantees from major multilateral development banks, potentially alongside private sector insurers and guarantors, as pioneered by the Bahamas last year. Historically, though, DFC backing has been crucial in scaling up deals, offering up to $1 billion in political risk insurance. That protects those who buy the new lower-cost bonds if the governments involved fail to make payments. "Who's going to step in? (to replace DFC) I don't know," said Eva Mayerhofer at the European Investment Bank, which backed a 2023 Barbados swap. "We won't be able to do debt conversions that regularly." The Inter-American Development Bank, involved in five of the last nine debt-for-nature swaps, sometimes alongside the DFC —declined to comment on whether any of its plans were being affected. Investment firm Nuveen's Stephen Liberatore, who has been a cornerstone investor in some debt swaps, said while substitutes for the DFC could be found, the knock-on effects were yet to be seen. "What is the price for a private entity (to provide risk insurance) versus a public entity like the DFC?" Liberatore said. "Does it change the amount of savings?" which are then spent on conservation. "That's the ultimate question." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
22-05-2025
- Health
- Straits Times
Brazil hopes to be officially free of bird flu in 28 days
FILE PHOTO: A person wearing a hazmat suit stands next to burning egg cartons and other items in a hole in the ground at a poultry farm after Brazil confirmed its first outbreak of bird flu on Friday, triggering protocols for a country-wide trade ban from top buyer China and state-wide restrictions for other major consumers, in Montenegro, Brazil May 16, 2025. REUTERS/Diego Vara/File Photo Chicken is displayed in a fridge in a market in Sao Paulo, Brazil May 20, 2025. REUTERS/Jorge Silva Brazil hopes to be officially free of bird flu in 28 days SAO PAULO - Brazil began a 28-day bird flu observation period on Thursday which it hopes will show the country's chicken farms are free of the disease after local authorities said a farm where its first outbreak was detected had been fully disinfected. The outbreak in the world's largest chicken exporter, detected in the town of Montenegro in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, triggered trade bans from multiple countries. The report from state authorities late on Wednesday that the farm was cleared means that if no other cases of bird flu are detected on Brazilian commercial chicken farms over the next 28 days, the country may be considered free of the disease. The count starts on Thursday, authorities said. "We need to ensure that the 28 days of observation occur without new outbreaks," Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro said after a meeting with Rio Grande do Sul Governor Eduardo Leite this week. "We are reinforcing actions to ensure that everything is perfectly safe," he said. Eleven active investigations into potential bird flu cases in Brazil are ongoing, including two on commercial chicken farms in Santa Catarina and Tocantins states. On Wednesday, Tocantins state authorities ruled out an outbreak of bird flu in the farm where the investigation was being conducted, citing preliminary test results. However, the federal government is conducting additional tests, according to the agriculture ministry's website. Wagner Yanaguizawa, an analyst at Rabobank, said the next few days will be decisive in determining whether the outbreak has been contained. "After 28 days, if there are no new cases from then on, Brazil can declare itself free of the disease," he said, adding that it will then be up to the importers to lift existing trade bans. "But then trade flows will most likely return to normal," Yanaguizawa said. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
04-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
New Zealand to spend NZ$2 billion on new maritime helicopters
FILE PHOTO: A military helicopter flies towards the airport during the rescue mission following the White Island volcano eruptions, in Whakatane, New Zealand, December 13, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Silva/File Photo New Zealand to spend NZ$2 billion on new maritime helicopters WELLINGTON - The New Zealand government said on Sunday it had set aside NZ$2 billion ($1.19 billion) in its upcoming budget to replace the Defence Force's aging maritime helicopters, as global tensions increase. Along with money for the helicopters, the government said it would increase baseline spending by NZ$239 million for the Defence Force each year over the next four years. 'It is very clear that New Zealand is not immune from the increasing tensions being felt throughout the world,' New Zealand Minister of Defence Judith Collins said in a statement. '(This) sets us on our path for defence spending to reach 2% of GDP by 2032-33,' she added. New Zealand's Defence Force has struggled with systemic underspending over the past several decades, which amounts to just over 1% of GDP now. In April, the government said it would boost defence spending with NZ$9 billion of new funding over the next four years. 'There is no economic security without national security. Global tensions are increasing rapidly, and Defence personnel need the right equipment and conditions to do their jobs,' Collins added. 'As a maritime nation we are prioritising naval capability,' she said. New Zealand's first national security review in 2023 called for more military spending and stronger ties with Indo-Pacific nations to tackle climate change and strategic competition among the West, China and Russia. New Zealand has eight SH-2G(I) Seasprite maritime helicopters. Collins said replacing these will increase the defensive and offensive capabilities and surveillance range of New Zealand's frigates. Collins added she will have more to say about defence investments in the coming year when the government unveils its budget. New Zealand's budget is scheduled for May 22, and will outline spending for the 12-month period to June 30, 2026. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
