The New Zealand Dollar remained steady after a Moody's research article continued to hold a "negative" outlook for the island country's banking system. "Impairment levels have risen noticeably so far in fiscal 2009...thereby reducing net profit growth and internal capital generation capabilities" said Marina Ip, assistant vice president at Moody's Australia. The unwanted news comes just four weeks after Fitch, another major ratings agency, slashed New Zealand's sovereign debt-rating outlook to "negative." In that report, the agency cited the high level of dependence that the country has on short-term financing from abroad as reason to be cautious. The credit outlook for both the public and private sector in New Zealand remain weak. Yields are likely to remain high. On Monday, the country's 10-year government bond yield rose to the highest level since the end of June. Such tight-money conditions might make it tough for the country to grow organically.
