Bendigo Bank has delayed plans to leave Nauru and close the Pacific Island country's only bank after a Chinese state-owned alternative signalled it may be willing to fill the void.
Bendigo Bank is delaying its plans to leave Nauru following the state-owned Bank of China signalling its interest in moving to the Pacific nation.Officials in Canberra are working hard to find another Australian bank to fill the gap left by Bendigo.
Officials in Canberra have been working hard to find another Australian bank to step in and replace Bendigo. One federal government source said the announcement would hopefully give Nauru and Australia more "breathing space" to find a solution, and that officials were pushing other Australian banks to step into the breach.
One source in Nauru told the ABC that the Bank of China representatives had made it clear they were interested in setting up a branch to fill the gap left by Bendigo. Westpac cited the post-COVID economic recovery in both countries as a major driver for the decision. However, the federal government has also made it clear that it pressed the Australian lending giant to stay in the region.
"And Nauru's heightened risk factor may flow on to a bigger withdrawal of important banking relationships across the region." But he said that by "stepping into a void left by Australia and fulfilling an essential service" China was trying to "show that it's a reliable partner in a way that Australia isn't, in a region it sees as being strategically important".
"The focus should be on how the people of Nauru are able to access essential services including banking — this is important for households, for businesses and the government." Earlier this month Australia's Pacific Minister Pat Conroy told the ABC that Australia was working hard to "support Nauru remaining banked"."We are their largest development partner and we will work with them to make sure that they have the economic infrastructure in place to sustain their economy," he said.
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