Kerry Stokes is among the foreigners backing a giant Chinese bank. Whether that bet pays off matters not just for him, but for the global economy.

ANZ Bank has reported a 25 per cent rise in annual profit in New Zealand, beating the $1 billion barrier with the help of a 59 per cent fall in bad debts.

Westpac New Zealand has posted a 41 per cent rise in annual cash earnings after a big drop in impairment charges as rise in income as net interest margins rose.

Wage increases accelerated in the last quarter, but is still soft enough to keep the Reserve Bank from hiking interest rates anytime soon. The labour cost index rose 0.6 percent in the last...

New Zealand building consents stalled in September with its first monthly decline in five eroding gains over the past two months.

Shares soared in Europe overnight and are well up on Wall St after European leaders agreed on a Greek debt deal.

The Reserve Bank has this morning left the Official Cash Rate unchanged at a record low 2.5 per cent. The move was widely anticipated, with this week's inflation numbers coming in lower than predicted.

The chances of any official cash rate increase from the Reserve Bank have dropped, with the latest inflation figures coming in lower than expected. The CPI was up 0.4 per cent in the last quarter, taking annual inflation to 4.6pc.

New Zealand needs to avoid a costly regulatory over-reaction to the Christchurch earthquakes, says Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard.