Finance Minister Steven Joyce says the Government will shortly introduce legislation to remove the Crown guarantee of the Public Trust.

He says this is in line with government policy for several decades that Crown-owned commercial businesses should not have a competitive advantage through being Crown-owned.

“Public Trust recently received an AA credit rating from independent credit rating agency Fitch. This rating is a sign of very low credit risk, and a high level of ability to meet financial commitments. The rating places the Public Trust just one notch below the Government's own rating," Mr Joyce says. 

The Crown guarantee will remain in place until the legislation is passed by Parliament, which is expected to be in the second half of 2018.