Waipā retains AA- Fitch rating

For the fifth year running Waipā District Council’s credit rating has been retained after the agency rolled its 2021 rating over to 2022.

Fitch Ratings completed a review of Council in May this year without releasing a rating action as there had been minimal change to the credit profile since the last one in June 2021.

The Hong Kong and Sydney-based analysts have now confirmed Waipā a local currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of 'AA- “with a stable outlook and a short-term local currency IDR of 'F1+”.

Waipā’s chief financial officer, Ken Morris, said credit ratings were important to council’s business to bring down the cost of borrowing.

“A positive re-rating will reduce interest costs, whereas a negative re-rating would have increased them, and maintaining a good rating keeps interest costs low,” he said.

“This means we save ratepayers tens of thousands of dollars in interest costs over the financial year.”

Waipā’s next credit review is scheduled for May 2023.