Sharebrokers were yesterday left seething after Green Party energy spokesman Gareth Hughes turned the debate into a proposed reduction of power prices personal by calling those opposing the plan greedy.
The Reserve Bank yesterday kept its official cash rate at 2.5%, caught between two opposing forces, Westpac chief economist Dominick Stephens said.
The New Zealand Superannuation Fund reached another month-end high of $22.1 billion in March, returning 1.76% in the month and 16.3% in the last 12 months.
Lengthy and costly legal action, with the Government footing much of the bill, would inevitably follow the introduction of the Labour-Green proposal to introduce a single buyer of electricity, Mark Warminger says.
Sharebrokers are reporting increased inquiries about Mighty River Power shares and some investors deciding to cancel their orders and get their money back.
The Reserve Bank has kept the official cash rate at 2.5% for two years and is widely expected to keep it at that rate until perhaps March of next year.
The Labour and Green parties have scored an early win by forcing the Government to file a supplementary disclosure on the Mighty River Power offer document.
NEW Zealand's monthly net immigration was stronger than expected in March, rising to the highest level since January 2010.
BNZ chief executive Andrew Thorburn and the BNZ board were in Dunedin this week meeting clients and talking to staff. Business editor Dene Mackenzie talked to Mr Thorburn during his visit.
More than half a billion dollars has been wiped off the value of Contact Energy and TrustPower since Wednesday night, the day before the Labour and Green parties announced their plans to lower electricity prices.
Auckland-based technology company Dimension Data has secured a multimillion-dollar contract with the University of Otago and will open an office in Dunedin employing eight staff to help support that new work.
New Zealand's reputation as an international investment destination would be damaged by the Labour and Green parties' proposals to bring down power prices, Milford Asset Management senior analyst William Curtayne said yesterday.
New Zealand's unemployment rate was likely to keep ''bouncing around'' 7% for the next six months, ANZ senior economist Sharon Zollner said yesterday.
Low headline inflation figures hide significant rises in electricity prices, Green Party co-leader Russel Norman says.
Hydro storage was being managed far more conservatively than in 2008, an encouraging sign that the changes resulting from the 2009 ministerial review have been positive, Electricity Authority head Carl Hansen says.
Demand for Mighty River Power shares is still likely to be strong, despite scaremongering by Opposition politicians, Milford Asset Management senior analyst William Curtayne says.
A pledge by Prime Minister John Key yesterday to spend an additional $158 million over four years on tourism was welcomed by the country's national carrier, Air New Zealand.
The extent of the drought in the North Island became more apparent yesterday when Contact Energy released its latest operating statistics.
The latest Performance in Services Index (PSI) gave Otago-Southland Employers Association chief executive John Scandrett something to celebrate yesterday.
Tobacco tax increases are likely to have pushed inflation above the Reserve Bank's forecast for the three months ended March, economists say.
