Business lending rates reach 33-year highs

Business lending rates reach 33-year highs
RBNZ governor Adrian Orr has defended bank capital requirements, saying they are not dampening competition. (Image: Mark Mitchell)
Gregor Thompson
Business lending rates are higher now than at any time since 1991.The Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s (RBNZ) preferred measurement, the small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) overdraft rate, formerly called the business base lending rate (BBLR), currently stands at 12.7%, which represents the base interest rate for new overdraft loans for non-farm SMEs.One medium-sized business owner, who wished to remain anonymous, told BusinessDesk his “overdraft rate is equivalent to 14% and [his] term loans are more or less 10% ... and then there...

More Economy

Westpac adds another rate cut to its forecasts
Economy

Westpac adds another rate cut to its forecasts

Westpac Bank now expects the official cash rate (OCR) to trough at 3% and has pushed back the timing of its forecast tightening cycle.“Downside risks from global growth suggest the RBNZ [Reserve Bank of New Zealand] may continue easing beyond May,” chief economist Kelly Eckhold s...

Rams Logistics owed $3.2m to IRD
Economy

Rams Logistics owed $3.2m to IRD

About 50 employees are owed approximately $760,000, the liquidators said.

Gregor Thompson 08 May 2025
Paul Bloxham: NZ's growth to stem worker outflow to Australia
Economy

Paul Bloxham: NZ's growth to stem worker outflow to Australia

HSBC's chief economist says NZ will benefit from Chinese economic pivot.

Capital requirements review doesn't mean they are too high
Economy

Capital requirements review doesn't mean they are too high

The Reserve Bank of NZ is not committed to any one particular outcome. 

Rebecca Howard 07 May 2025