New Zealand's central bank says it will go ahead with plans to increase capital requirements for banks but offered more time for the lenders to make the changes than originally proposed.
The country's top four Australian-owned banks will have to raise their total capital to 18 per cent from a minimum of 10.5 per cent now, while the remaining smaller banks will have to raise it to 16 per cent, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) said in a statement.
The decision will take effect from July 2020 but the time frame to meet the requirements was increased to seven years from the previously proposed five years, the RBNZ said.
