Partnerships will improve infrastructure says National

National Party finance spokesman John Key thinks listed public-private partnerships will help improve infrastructure and address the problem of shrinking capital markets.

He told the Business NZ Election conference that investment in infrastructure was a crucial for economic growth and National was keen to involve the private sector.

"We think there are tremendous gains to be made through public-private partnerships which can be quite significant in adding depth to our capital markets.

"I have concerns about the New Zealand stock exchange and the number of listings they have."

There was a risk that a number of large companies, including Contact Energy and Carter Holt Harvey, could soon be delisted.

"You'd start to have a capital market that's not deep enough and we need to get more things on the exchange. I think infrastructure presents a real opportunity to do that."