The Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s outgoing chief executive Ralph Norris has told reporters that the bank will not have to raise funds for the remainder of the calendar year.
Speaking to reporters in Sydney yesterday, Mr Norris said the pre-funding the bank has done should put the bank in a very good position for the rest of the year.
“We can last several months at least,” he said.
“We have made sure that we have not invested in European sovereign debt to any extent and that means our balance sheet is obviously very strong from that perspective.”
But while CBA is not expected to raise funds until at least 2012, Mr Norris said this would not mean the bank’s funding costs would not rise substantially in the near term as debt markets continue to struggle with the European sovereign debt crisis.