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The federal government and the big four banks are working on a contingency plan which will provide funding for existing investments and future projects in the event that foreign financiers withdraw from the Australian market.
The Australian Business Investment Partnership (ABIP) which is expected to be headed up by NAB’s Ahmed Fahour, is the government’s latest response to the financial crisis and is expected to help stem job losses in the construction sector.
Finance minister Lindsay Tanner told The Australian Financial Review that taxpayers’ funds to support the scheme would be used wisely; “This funding will only be available for completed or partly completed major property projects and can only be provided if all four major banks and the government agree the project remains creditworthy”.
Kevin Rudd said Treasury modelling had found without government assistance up to a third of the 150,000 jobs in the commercial property sector could be at risk.
