12-08-2025
- Business
- AU Financial Review
Government quizzed over $2b Pacific guarantee for ANZ
A $2 billion guarantee the federal government provides to ANZ Bank to support its operations in nine Pacific nations could distort competition and disadvantage Pacific Islander investors, according to the largest lender in the region, ASX-listed Bank South Pacific.
The official backstop for ANZ, announced in March, is part of a diplomatic plan to offset China's growing influence in the Pacific region. Policymakers see Western banks withdrawing from the Pacific as a national security risk if China were to muscle in to provide more financial services in the region.
