WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand's net foreign liabilities are at their lowest levels as a percentage of gross domestic product since the late 1980's, making the country less vulnerable to shocks, Reserve Bank of New Zealand Deputy Governor Geoff Bascand said on Monday.
The country's net foreign liabilities reached nearly 85 percent of GDP at the start of 2009. They were down at 58.5 percent of GDP eight years later, he said in a speech.
"Since a large NFL position generally makes the economy more vulnerable to domestic and global shocks, the improvement in our NFL-GDP after 2009 suggests that New Zealand might have become a slightly less risky proposition for overseas lenders and investors," Bascand said.
(Reporting by Wellington and Sydney bureaux; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
