Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he’s joined by economist Tony Alexander. As chief economist at the BNZ for 25 years, Tony Alexander held one of the … Read more
Thanks to falling interest rates and higher wages, mortgage affordability has remained surprisingly steady, writes Greg Ninness for interest.co.nz. But that doesn’t mean things aren’t a lot tougher for those trying to get onto the housing ladder. The latest house price figures make startling reading for potential first home buyers. According to the Real Estate … Read more
The Reserve Bank considered it, the big banks hated it, so could negative interest rates actually work? Professor of finance Harry Scheule from the University of Technology Sydney explains. There’s a row brewing in the corridors of financial power. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) recently advised the trading banks that the official cash … Read more
Super-low interest rates are a blessing to those already on the housing ladder. For those still renting and without a deposit, it is yet another nail in the long-sealed coffin of potential home ownership. Last week, when Heartland Bank became the first lender in New Zealand history to offer a home loan interest rate below … Read more
This month, Kiwibank reset its variable interest rates by 1%, from 4.40 to 3.40%. Kiwibank’s general manager of business banking Nigel Gaudin tells The Spinoff why this is a big deal for local businesses. Okay, what is a variable interest rate? And what have you done to it? A variable interest rate, sometimes called a … Read more
In a surprise move this morning, the Reserve Bank has slashed the Official Cash Rate to just 0.25%, down from 1%. So what does that mean for you, and why has it happened now? Just quickly – what is the official cash rate? The OCR is the interest rate at which the Reserve Bank lends … Read more
He was the prototypical high school nerd, hanging on Don Brash’s every word. Then the financial world turned upside down. This is the story of how Kiwibank’s Jarrod Kerr became a most unconventional economist. In 2008, Jarrod Kerr was working at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia when the global financial crisis hit like a financial … Read more
Business confidence is at its worst level since the financial crisis and interest rate cuts aren’t doing the job. The government needs to step up, writes Kiwibank chief economist Jarrod Kerr. Business confidence is crumbling. In two surveys out this week firms have highlighted weak demand, capacity constraints, government policy uncertainty, and poor pricing power … Read more
Record low borrowing costs are a precious opportunity for business owners who now need to make savvy decisions about what to do with the cash. The experts may have been caught off-guard when the Reserve Bank opened fire on interest rates earlier this month, but the fact of the matter is the Kiwi economy needs … Read more
Adrian Orr has brought out the big guns to put a sorely needed bomb under the New Zealand economy and now the government needs to do its bit, a top economist says. The Reserve Bank’s decision to slash interest rates is a good move that shouldn’t come as a surprise, Kiwibank chief economist Jarrod Kerr … Read more
British regulators have placed caps on interest rates and the total amount fringe lenders can charge, so why isn’t New Zealand making similar moves? Having to take out a loan to pay for food, bills, petrol and rent is the reality for many New Zealand families. With around one in seven Kiwis living in poverty … Read more