Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
License needed for work use Register
Parliament

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | Video | Questions Of the Day | Search

 

Banks Don't Consider Student Loans A Major Factor

Hon Max Bradford
Minister for Tertiary Education

MEDIA RELEASE
23 November 1999

Banks Don't Consider Student Loans A Major Factor In Refusing Finance

A survey by two students' associations shows that banks don't consider student loans to be a major factor in refusing finance, Minister for Tertiary Education Max Bradford said today.

Mr Bradford was commenting on a survey carried out by the Otago University Students' Association and the New Zealand University Students' Association on the effects of student loans on people's ability to raise finance from banks and credit unions.

"The survey, which had a low response rate, concluded that student loans affected only "a small number of people" who sought finance.

"Respondents made it clear that where finance was refused, the repayment of the student loan was only one of the factors in the decision," Mr Bradford said.

Mr Bradford said it was natural that the size of compulsory student loan repayments would affect a person's ability to seek finance.

"The ability to service debt dictates the amount people are able to borrow, which is of course affected by existing repayment commitments, whether they are for credit card debts, private debts or student loans.

Mr Bradford said that since 1995, there had been only two formal complaints to the Banking Ombudsman from loan holders who were refused finance by banks.

"I would expect a bank to look favourably on student loans compared to other loans, as they are less risky, the interest rate is about half of unsecured loans, and the Government gives generous interest write-offs if the loan holder's repayments do not cover the base interest charged.

"Under Labour's no-interest-while-studying loan policy, students will make the most of the free money on offer. This will result in a dramatic increase in total student debt," he said.

Media Inquiries: Jeremy Kirk, press secretary, (04) 471-9836 or (025) 424 565

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines

Scoop Post Election Podcast: The River Of Freedom Documentary Review

After recording a River of Freedom review the Scoop Political Podcast went into hibernation. Now with a new Government formed it’s time to dust off this forgotten silver and look at the potential impact this documentary, about the Wellington parliamentary protest of 2022 had on Election 23. Watched by potentially tens of thousands of voters in the weeks prior to the election this movie was not likely to have won votes for the then Labour government. More

Gordon Campbell: On The Skewed Media Coverage Of Gaza

Now that he’s back as Foreign Minister, maybe Winston Peters should start reading the MFAT website which is currently celebrating the 25th anniversary of how Kiwis alerted the rest of the world to the genocide in Rwanda. How times have changed ...

In 2023, the government is clutching its pearls because senior Labour MP Damien O’Connor has dared suggest that Gaza’s civilian population - already living under apartheid and subjected to sixteen years of an illegal embargo, and now being herded together and slaughtered indiscriminately amid the destruction of their homes, schools, mosques, and hospitals - are also victims of what amounts to genocide. More


 
 
ACT: Call To Abolish Human Rights Commission

“The Human Rights Commission’s appointment of a second Chief Executive is just the latest example of a taxpayer-funded bureaucracy serving itself at the expense of delivery for New Zealanders,” says ACT MP Todd Stephenson. More


Public Housing Futures: Christmas Comes Early For Landlords

New CTU analysis of the National & ACT coalition agreement has shown the cost of returning interest deductibility to landlords is an extra $900M on top of National’s original proposal. This is because it is going to be implemented earlier and faster, including retrospective rebates from April 2023. More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.