Government to private sector: please pay your bills faster

Tue, 19 May 2020

The government can throw billions of dollars at small and medium enterprises to help them weather the impact of covid-19 but, when it comes to making the private sector stop dragging its heels on payments, all it can do is meekly ask. Late payments have long been a problem for small businesses, with more than half owed about $7,000 on any given day. Finance Minister Grant Robertson, Small Business Minister Stuart Nash and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi said they had written to a cross-section of “significant New Zealan...

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