Another corporate welfare failure

The Herald reported:

The Government has $115 million at risk from the collapse of SolarZero.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis said she was seeking urgent advice on the SolarZero situation. She had no further comment.

NZ Green Investment Finance – a “green investment bank” created by the previous Government to fund environmentally-friendly businesses – made a $145m debt facility available to SolarZero, as well as facilitating $220m in credit lines from international private lenders First Sentier Investors, Natixis Investment Managers and Société Générale.

There are scores of investment funds that are looking to invest tens of billions of dollars in green energy firms. If SolarZero couldn’t attract enough investors willing to risk their own money, taxpayers should not have been forced to invest in it.

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