KEY POINTS:
New Zealand is among 13 nations named by BusinessWeek as most at risk from the global financial crisis.
The article compared New Zealand to Iceland because of its heavy dependence on foreign money to fund its current account deficit.
"Like Iceland, New Zealand was a favourite of investors playing the yen carry trade. And like Iceland New Zealand is hurting," the American magazine said on its website.
It noted the fall in the New Zealand dollar and that the New Zealand economy is already in recession.
The New Zealand dollar hit new post float highs around US82c this year but has fallen in recent months and was US62c today.
BusinessWeek said that unlike Iceland, New Zealand's banks have strong support because they are mostly controlled "by bigger banks across the Tasman Sea in Australia".
The government is also in a stronger position because it has run budget surpluses until recently.
"Even with the country in recession, the government is likely to continue running a budget surplus," BusinessWeek said.
Iceland signalled on Sunday it was growing increasingly open to the idea of seeking International Monetary Fund help to pull the country through its worst economic crisis.
Iceland was forced to take over one major bank after another, to shut down its stock market and to abandon attempts to defend its free-falling currency.
- NZPA
