Foreign owners will take more and more out of New Zealand, Reserve Bank projections released today show.

Alliance leader Jim Anderton says New Zealanders are having to work harder and harder just to pay the interest to foreign owners, showing that overseas asset sales have been a disaster.

The Bank's November Monetary Policy Statement estimates that, in the year to March, foreign owners will make $7600 million more from New Zealand than New Zealand makes on our overseas investments.

That's up by $1200 million from last year.But the picture worsens still further, with the Reserve Bank projecting foreign owners will take out $8100 million in 2001 and $8600 in 2002.

That is the equivalent of $43 a week for every adult and child New Zealander.

'The more of New Zealand that gets sold overseas, the more profits flow out of New Zealand. If the New Zealand economy begins to pick up, foreign owners make bigger profits and take even more money out of New Zealand, so they get the benefits of growth instead of the New Zealanders who create the profits.

'Every New Zealander is paying for the profits made by foreign owners, through higher prices for things like phones and power, higher interest rates and rents, as well as lower wages and profits.

'If Act and National get elected they will sell even more assets. TVNZ, the publicly-owned electricity generating companies and even our roads are likely to be sold to overseas owners. We will owe even more overseas,' Jim Anderton said.

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