Of Interest

Stats NZ’s final data release for the year revealed the economy has been shrinking at its fastest rate in three decades. While this may not be a very Merry Christmas, there is still hope for a Happy New Year.

Treasury, the Reserve Bank, and most economists expect growth to resume in 2025 as interest rates fall. Consumer spending should pick back up and cheaper credit should make business investments more worthwhile. 

But while privat...

The Government could run a second retirement income scheme alongside NZ Superannuation as part of a transition to a new system, but according to Andrew Coleman, this couldn't be done without an increase in taxes on older people, or more general tax increases.

Fresh from his 13 part interest.co.nz series on NZ's government retirement income system and associated taxes, Coleman spoke to myself and Terry Baucher on a combined episode o...

New Zealanders should be grateful insurance companies remain committed to New Zealand given the country's risk exposure, John Lyon of Ando Insurance says.

In the latest episode of the Of Interest podcast I asked Lyon how well general insurers are serving New Zealanders, how competitive the market is, and how the public should judge strong financial results from their insurers. As well as being CEO of Ando, an underwriting agency, he...

Milford Asset Management’s head of KiwiSaver says KiwiSaver – the country’s voluntary retirement savings scheme which is in its 17th year – is a teenager that’s about to head into adulthood.

“I think it's the right time to have the discussions we were having at the [Financial Services Council] Conference. By and large, providers are pretty well aligned around how we can improve KiwiSaver and make it better for New Zealanders retirem...

The integrity of bond markets on both sides of the Tasman is at stake as regulators probe issues of potential market manipulation, Australian Financial Review senior reporter Jonathan Shapiro says.

Shapiro is covering the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) probe of the ANZ Group's role in a A$14 billion 2023 Australian government bond sale, and taking an interest in the Financial Markets Authority's probe into p...

Grocery Commissioner Pierre van Heerden wants a third supermarket competitor to set up shop in New Zealand in order to tackle the country’s supermarket duopoly, but reducing the barriers to entry won’t happen overnight.

“What we've been told by these players is when they come and they want to open up a large store in New Zealand, the cost to get a spade in the ground is double that of Australia,” he says in a new episode of the Of I...

With US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signalling interest rate cuts ahead, the US dollar's likely to weaken with the Kiwi dollar rising against it, Imre Speizer, Head of NZ Markets Strategy at Westpac Institutional Bank, says.

Speaking in a new episode of the Of Interest podcast, Speizer says although the expected central bank interest rate trajectory is very similar in NZ and the US over the next 12 months, financial marke...

The process of growth will be the main benefit from a scaled up Kiwibank, while public acclaim will be a key measure of open banking's success, Commerce Commission Chairman John Small says.

Small spoke to interest.co.nz for the latest episode of the Of Interest podcast, which will be published later on Wednesday. The interview came after the Commission released the final report from its market study into personal banking services. T...

Deputy Governor Christian Hawkesby says the Reserve Bank's (RBNZ) Monetary Policy Committee might have taken a different stance in May if the economic activity forecasts had been more accurate.

In May, forecasts had anticipated 1% GDP growth for the calendar year. But by August, that had been revised to a 0.4% contraction, with a deep decline in the June quarter.

The RBNZ chose to cut the Official Cash Rate from 5.50% to 5.25% last W...

The balance of power in the labour market sits firmly with employers, with a big rise in job applicants over the past year chasing a significantly diminished number of jobs, says Frog Recruitment Managing Director Shannon Barlow.

"For our recruitment agency, we're probably experiencing around three to four times the volume of applications compared with last year. And that's across the board, across different industries and job types...

The Government's push to have more apartments, including shoebox apartments, built should be welcomed over time by a range of buyers including first home buyers, property investors and retirees, suggests John Bolton, founder of mortgage broker, lender and savings product provider Squirrel.

Speaking in a new episode of interest.co.nz's Of Interest podcast, Bolton, also a former banker who has dabbled in property development, says apa...

Mainstream economics courses teach students money is a scarce resource and nature has boundless capacity to be exploited when in fact it's the other way around, argues Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) economist Steven Hail.

Advocates say you don't do MMT, rather it's a description of how the monetary system works. And countries like New Zealand, where the Government - via the Reserve Bank - is the monopoly issuer of a fiat currency, are...

New Zealand's nascent private credit industry could account for up to 5% of business lending to operating companies over time, suggests Aotea Asset Management (AAM) executive director Will Carnachan.

AAM, which launched three years ago, is a corporate debt fund manager organising wholesale investorsto contribute to direct secured loans to businesses. Private credit, a form of shadow banking, has made headlines in the US, Europe and ...

The Reserve Bank surprised the market on Wednesday by dropping hints it was open to cutting rates sooner than planned, due to signs the economy was getting too weak.

While the tone shift was unexpected, the central bank was reacting to the same data which had caused ASB’s economics team to change their own interest rate forecast the week prior.

Nick Tuffley, the retail bank’s chief economist, said economic data was sending very diffe...

New Zealand exporters to the United States might be at greater risk of being disrupted than those exporting to China, according to one trade expert.

Despite talk about the need to diversify away from China due to geopolitical differences, it may be the United States that hits Kiwi businesses with tariffs intended to shut them out.

Stephen Jacobi, the executive director of the NZ International Business Forum, said a second Trump presi...

The first New Zealand and international wave of electric vehicle (EV) uptake is probably over, with cheaper cars and better public charging infrastructure required for further major growth in the uptake of these "batteries on wheels," says James Foster.

 In a new episode of interest.co.nz's Of Interest podcast, Foster, who runs the EVDB website, says EVs reaching price parity with internal combustion engine (petrol) vehicles, will b...

Ask Cameron Bagrie how to improve business and rural banking and some words reoccur in his answers. Three of them are "risk", "productivity", and "bankability."

With two parliamentary select committees set to hold an inquiry into banking competition, the business and rural banking markets will feature, unlike in the Commerce Commission probe into competition in the personal banking market. In the latest episode of interest.co.nz's O...

By Gareth Vaughan

How seriously is the public sector taking the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing?

This question comes up in a new episode of interest.co.nz's Of Interest podcast, featuring barrister and solicitor Fiona Hall and anti-money laundering auditor and consultant Martin Dilly.

In a recent article the two raised concerns about impending job cuts to the team at the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) task...

The Australian Government's a Future Made in Australiainitiative could attract skilled migrants and potentially investment and entrepreneurs from New Zealand, and ultimately be a catalyst for a much more sustainable future, says Kylie Walker, the CEO of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering.

In last month's budget, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's government unveiled a Future Made in Australia, saying this ...