The New Zealand Institute of Economic Research has provided the gloomiest economic picture for a long time and, coming less than a week after Budget 2012, it will be widely interpreted as the country having a stagnant economy.
Plans for a five-star, 28-storey luxury hotel were announced for Dunedin yesterday, but the names of the developers behind the $100 million project are not known.
Currency gains by Fisher and Paykel Healthcare (FPH) in the year to March helped the company report an improved after-tax profit after overcoming flat sales and a lower operating profit.
Finance Minister Bill English is in a rush to spend the proceeds of the partial sale of state-owned assets - even before even a single share has been sold.
The Government's tax-reform tinkering contained in Budget 2012 has failed to impress tax practitioners, who claim the base broadening amounted to nothing more than the modernisation of outdated tax credit rules.
Businesses in the South hoping for clear direction from the Government in Budget 2012 on the rebuilding of Christchurch after the earthquakes would have been disappointed.
Finance Minister Bill English yesterday delivered exactly what he had promised - a return to fiscal surplus by June 2015.
A delay in introducing auto-enrolment in KiwiSaver will save the Government about $514 million as Finance Minister Bill English continues to promise a return of the government books to surplus in 2014-15.
Finance Minister Bill English yesterday released a slightly more generous Budget than expected, but still plans to scrape into surplus by 2015 through some sleight of hand with revenue and savings.
Fisher and Paykel Healthcare reports this morning, with analysts preparing to crunch the numbers around the company's foreign exchange hedging policy.
The fall in dairy and meat exports over the past few months has brought an end to the country's trade surplus position, with the trade balance recording its first deficit in two years in the year ended April.
High income earners, or those hiding their income through trusts or a mixed use of assets, could be in the firing line when Finance Minister Bill English releases his Budget 2012 this afternoon.
Natural health and beauty products company Comvita saw off a hostile takeover bid that continued for four months but still managed to produce record operating earnings of $15.5 million for the year ended March.
The need for urgency in rebuilding Christchurch is becoming clearer with the publication of each new economic activity report.
Lines and infrastructure company Chorus broke the mould yesterday by issuing guidance for its capital expenditure programmes.
The Treasury is getting into the swing of austerity measures as Finance Minister Bill English prepares to release his Budget 2012 tomorrow.
OPINION: David Shearer delivered his strongest speech yet as leader of the Labour Party, when he yesterday launched a broadside at the Government's prediction for a "zero Budget" to be delivered on Thursday.
South Island businesses will be looking for some clear direction on the Canterbury rebuilding in tomorrow's Budget 2012 as it remains one of the Government's four priorities this term, SBS Bank financial officer Tim Loan says.
Investor confidence is on the rise but it will not be good news for Finance Minister Bill English because it appears the love affair New Zealanders have with property has been reignited.
The Government's financial situation could not be used as justification for a programme of partial state-owned asset sales, Berl chief economist Ganesh Nana said yesterday.
