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Dunedin's Silver Fern Farms said 86 jobs at its Shannon fellmongery would go after the sale of the facility to Hastings-based Lowe Corporation.

Fonterra's annual earnings look set to fall short of its prospectus forecasts when the company reports its result for the July 31 financial year on Wednesday.

Bond markets have undergone a sea change over the last few months, heralding the start of a more "normal" investment climate after years of unnaturally low interest rates, fixed interest specialists said.

Westpac New Zealand said it had raised $800 million through a five-year bond offer - the biggest ever domestic issue of its type from any New Zealand bank.

New Zealand's provincial ITM Cup rugby unions are collectively back in the black, according to international accounting firm, Deloitte.

Fertiliser co-operative Ballance Agri-Nutrients says cost-cutting helped drive its trading profit up by 19.8 per cent to $92.6 million, despite last summer's drought reducing demand.

Fonterra's increased payout for 2013-14 would lend a sizeable boost to the economy, Westpac said in a commentary.

Fonterra Co-operative Group said about 300 jobs from its head office in Auckland would go after a review of its support services, saving the company $65 million, or $216,666 per position, a year.

New Zealand's dairy sector debt nearly tripled over the past decade to $30.5 billion in 2012 and some farmers will have difficulty servicing their loans in the year ahead, despite the prospect of a higher milk price, the Ministry for Primary Industries said.

Reserve Bank Governor Graeme Wheeler stepped up his rhetoric today about the twin dilemmas facing the economy - a high exchange rate and an over-heated property market.