By Rebecca Howard May 31 (BusinessDesk) - Economists were largely upbeat about the government's 2019 budget but say Treasury's forecasts may be too optimistic.  The Treasury lowered its growth forecasts but still sees gross domestic product growth of 3 percent in the 12 mon...

By Rebecca Howard May 31 (BusinessDesk) - Consumer confidence eased in May to a six-month low but continues to hover around the historical average.  The latest ANZ-Roy Morgan survey of consumer confidence fell 4 points in May to 119.3, but remained above the neutral 100-poi...

By Jenny Ruth May 30 (BusinessDesk) - The New Zealand dollar rose a little after the Labour-led government’s “wellbeing” budget forecast fiscal surpluses will be smaller as spending ramps up. The kiwi was trading at 65.24 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 65.11 at 7:50am....

By Pattrick SmellieMay 30 (BusinessDesk) - Government funding for water and roading infrastructure “to support the timely increase of housing supply” is halved without explanation in the Budget.Having announced a $600 million capital allocation for CIP in last year’s Budget, this...

By Pattrick Smellie May 30 (BusinessDesk) - The national rail carrier, KiwiRail, and Auckland’s Central Rail Loop projects receive capital boosts totalling $1.58 billion in this year’s Budget and there will be more to come. Of that, $405.5 million is to meet rocketing costs...

By Pattrick Smellie May 30 (BusinessDesk) - Announcements in the Budget indicate that two-thirds of the $3 billion available for distribution from the Provincial Growth Fund has now been committed. With $1.7 billion of projects already announced, the Budget adds $300 millio...

By Paul McBeth May 30 (BusinessDesk) - The government will spend $2 million a year to support the roll-out of a cyber security strategy among a raft of new spending in the virtual space. That’s in the shadow of a budget leak by the opposition National Party, which took adva...

By Pattrick Smellie May 30 (BusinessDesk) - The embryonic nature of the government’s approach to policy-making focused on ‘well-being’ is writ large by the fact that the 2019 Budget contains just two new metrics for measuring success. However, the direction of future activi...

By Paul McBeth May 30 (BusinessDesk) - The government has put education front and centre of a $41.1 billion capital spending programme over the next five years, with plans to build and upgrade schools to accommodate the nation’s growing population. The 2019 Budget has alloc...

By Rebecca Howard May 30 (BusinessDesk) - New Zealand’s fiscal outlook remains in line with the government’s strategy, but forecasts included in Budget 2019 show smaller surpluses as spending ramps up.     “We are maintaining sustainable surpluses over the period and keepin...

By Paul McBeth May 30 (BusinessDesk) - The government will borrow an extra $6 billion over the next five years to cover a shortfall in its cash flows to meet a $41.1 billion capital spending programme. The New Zealand Debt Management Office will issue $8 billion in the year...

By Rebecca Howard May 30 (BusinessDesk) - New Zealand’s economic growth is initially underpinned by Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s first “well-being budget” but that growth is forecast to gradually fade. Risks - particularly international risks – remain skewed to the downs...

By Pattrick Smellie May 30 (BusinessDesk) - The government will divert $240 million of contributions to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund and combine it with $60 million of assets held by the Venture Investment Fund to improve access to capital for growing, mid-sized busines...

By Pattrick Smellie May 30 (BusinessDesk) - Police investigating a leak of sensitive Budget information have determined that the Treasury's computer system was not 'hacked'. In a rocky start to what should have been a showcase day for the government's first 'Wellbeing' Budg...

By Rebecca Howard May 29 (BusinessDesk) - Business confidence lifted slightly in May but was still in the doldrums, with residential construction intentions tumbling despite a capital gains tax being ruled out.  A net 32 percent of the 364 respondents to the ANZ business ou...

(Updates story throughout with further details and comment) By Jenny Ruth May 29 (BusinessDesk) - Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr is less concerned about housing loans but is still fretting about a third of dairy debt and is also flagging the rapid growth in lending to the...

By Pattrick Smellie May 27 (BusinessDesk) - Beef and sheepmeat exporter ANZCO says sales in the Japanese frozen beef trade are recovering, thanks to tariff reductions for New Zealand produce under the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership that allows local pr...

By Pattrick Smellie May 28 (BusinessDesk) - The Treasury is investigating the leak of spending decisions relating to 18 of the government's 40 departments and agencies in what appears to be the largest breach of Budget secrecy since the entire Budget was leaked in 1986. Com...

By Gavin Evans May 28 (BusinessDesk) - The global shift to a lower carbon economy will require greater development of mineral resources and New Zealand is well-placed to show how that can be done, Economic Development Minister David Parker says. Rapidly developing energy te...

By Jenny Ruth May 27 (BusinessDesk) - Amid an action-packed week for business news, a key piece of information will arrive on Wednesday afternoon when ANZ Bank's latest business confidence survey shows whether Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's decision to drop a planned capital...

By Pattrick Smellie May 24 (BusinessDesk) - The government's decision to relax its Budget Responsibility Rules has attracted a balance of positive and negative criticism, suggesting it's pitched about right, said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in a speech to an Auckland busines...

By Rebecca Howard May 24 (BusinessDesk) - Annual exports to China jumped 22 percent in April to top $15 billion for the first time, amid growing demand for beef, lamb, logs and dairy products.  Exports to China now account for about a quarter of New Zealand's international...