Australia Pledges $6 Million Towards Improving Banking in the Pacific

Australia’s government will provide $6.3 million (US$4.3 million) in Commonwealth funds to bolster banking infrastructure building in the Pacific amid ongoing competition with Beijing. The move is set to be announced by Treasurer Jim Chalmers at Brisbane’s Pacific Banking Summit on July 9, where talks will focus on bank closures and shoring up financial stability in the region. “Australian banks like Westpac and ANZ provide vital banking services to the region and have been in the Pacific for more than a century,” Mr. Chalmers will say on July 9. “We know how critical these services are for local communities, which is why we have been actively talking to all the major Australian banks, to let them know how important a continued Australian banking presence in the region is to the government.”...