NZ firms face tight margins as consumer prices rise at slowest pace in 13 years

Tue, 16 Oct 2012

By Paul McBeth Oct. 16 (BusinessDesk) - New Zealand companies are facing a tough operating environment as they try to squeeze profit from their customers in the face of consumer prices rising at their slowest annual pace in 13 years. The consumer price index rose 0.3 percent in the three months ended September 30, taking the annual pace of inflation to just 0.8 percent, below the Reserve Bank's target band of between 1 percent and 3 percent. That's the slowest annual rate of inflation since December 1999. The figures come a week after the...

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