The Treasurer’s five-day visit will include meetings with ratings agencies Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s, infrastructure investors and bond holders.
“The main purpose of this visit is to reinforce our commitment to maintaining our AAA credit rating,” Mr Baird said today.
“NSW, along with Victoria, is one of only two states to retain the AAA rating with both agencies.
“Loss of the rating over 10 years would cost NSW taxpayers about $3.75 billion.
“That is money far better spent on schools and hospitals than on paying interest, so we are doing everything in our power to prevent a downgrade.
“My message to the ratings agencies will be that, in difficult national and global economic conditions, the NSW Government is committed to maintaining the fiscal discipline that it has demonstrated over the past three years.
“Meanwhile, we have renewed the state’s balance sheet through asset transactions such as the long-term lease of Port Botany and Port Kembla and the ongoing sale of state-owned electricity generators.
“This has allowed us to reinvest in vital new infrastructure without putting further pressure on the AAA through massive additional borrowing.”
Mr Baird will brief bond markets on the benefits of investing in NSW, as well as speaking to potential infrastructure partners.
“NSW has the largest Public Private Partnership program in Australia, and we are always looking for innovative new ways to fund and finance projects,” said Mr Baird.
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