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Banks easily fund infrastructure flow

22 January 2014 5:53PM
There is no shortage of private capital to finance the delivery of major infrastructure, Westpac said in a submission to the Productivity Commission.The commission is conducting an inquiry looking at ways to bring down the cost of infrastructure, including facilitating greater private sector involvement in major infrastructure projects.Westpac noted that "all new greenfield projects since the Global Financial Crisis [have been] financed by banks."The bank said this "reflects a more cautious investor appetite, the significant credit deterioration of monoline insurers that previously supported project bonds, and that the financing task is now often significantly larger than was typical pre-GFC."Westpac said there was "limited potential for the development of a project bond market in Australia" and called for "credit enhancement during the construction period [from] well rated financial institutions or, potentially, from government.""Beyond the construction period, we generally view most well-structured operating infrastructure assets to likely be of an investment grade profile… for which there is less of a requirement for credit enhancement."One reform Westpac would like to see is the usual rule that there be fully financed bids being dropped. "In other markets (such as the UK), bidders often bid the solution, and the preferred bidder will subsequently seek funding from the banking market. This may lower financing costs on some projects, particularly larger projects where market capacity may be more stretched.""However, this financing model is more easily considered when there is a high degree of standardisation and there is limited potential to enhance project value through financing innovation," Westpac said.

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