Joint productivity study welcomed

BusinessNZ and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum have welcomed the announcement of joint work by the Productivity Commissions of New Zealand and Australia. An agreement of the joint cabinet meeting of the New Zealand and Australian Governments in Melbourne will see the two commissions working to develop options for ... read more

Service sector crease bound?

The service sector returned to a more subdued level of expansion in December, according to the BNZ - BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index (PSI). The PSI for December was 50.6. This was down 5.6 points from 56.2 in November, and 0.2 points lower than the October result. A PSI reading above ... read more

Pace required on economic plan

Economic directions signalled by the Prime Minister in his first major speech of the year will be welcomed by enterprise, says BusinessNZ - and now they need to be acted on. Chief Executive Phil O’Reilly says relying on a few major reforms to turn the economy around is not realistic and ... read more

RBNZ must respond to quantitative easing and lower interest rates elsewhere

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) needs to respond to unorthodox monetary policy implemented elsewhere if we are to see an export lead recovery this year say the New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association (NZMEA). This morning the Reserve Bank announced an unchanged Official Cash Rate and no plans to ... read more

‘Clustering’ to become a global ‘brain economy’

David McConnell, chair of ATEED (left) chats to Prof Torger Reve By Kevin Kevany Could this be 'the dawning of the Age of Competitiveness' for New Zealand? The omens are good at year-end 2011, with all of the right signals suddenly lighting up and a passionate advocate of the need for a ... read more

Brighter end to the year for manufacturers

Manufacturing activity improved enough over December to be back in positive territory, according to the latest BNZ - BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI). The seasonally adjusted PMI for December was 51.9 (a PMI reading above 50.0 indicates that manufacturing is generally expanding; below 50.0 that it is declining). This was ... read more

EMEX 2012 to showcase the new

Rob Lavender Visitors to EMEX 2012 will not only get hands-on with the latest in engineering, electronics and manufacturing, but also get a glimpse into the future thanks to the presence this year of eight top New Zealand universities. Dr Luke Krieg of AUT says that the universities will show everything from ... read more

Malaysian trade mission offers opportunities

Sir Ken Stevens is leading the trade mission to Malaysia. The range of business opportunity on offer through a trade mission heading to Malaysia, Sarawak and Brunei in late March represents a rare and important opportunity for exporters, says Sir Ken Stevens. “But time is short to get involved – we need ... read more

CPI down, OCR cut makes sense

The Consumers Price Index (CPI) has dropped 0.3% in the December quarter and inflation increased by 1.8% year on year, well within the target band. That allows plenty of room for monetary policy that supports exports say the New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association (NZMEA). NZMEA Chief Executive John Walley says, ... read more

Hiring intentions in South Island at eight year high

Hiring intentions in the South Island are at an eight-year high, according to the latest Hudson Report Employment and HR Trends. A net 40.1% of employers in the region intend to increase permanent staff numbers in the first quarter of 2012, which is more than double the national average. “Treasury has ... read more