The Government's deficit shrank to $4.4 billion in the year to June, the smallest it has been for four years.

A glitch means some Mighty River Power shareholders have yet to receive notification of how many shares they bought during the company's float.

Potential investors in Meridian Energy have plenty of reading material.

Editorial: The Green Party has called the Government's bail-out of Solid Energy "privatisation by stealth". Would that it were so.

After having its "for sale" sign removed when it almost collapsed this year, state-owned coalminer Solid Energy will be partially privatised in a restructuring deal.

Labour's new leader, David Cunliffe, is having something of a dream run, writes Brian Rudman. For nearly a month, the party's leadership roadshow dominated the political news headlines.

The Government has loaned stricken state owned coal miner Solid Energy $100 million as part of a restructuring package announced this morning.

John Key says the result of next month's referendum on asset sales will be interesting - but won't halt his partial sale of power companies and Air NZ.

Prime Minister John Key has confirmed the Citizens Initiated Referendum over asset sales will take place in late November and early December this year.

The Government says there has been strong early demand for its Meridian share offer, which opens today.

Close to half of the Meridian share offer has been claimed by New Zealand retail investors ahead of the offer opening tomorrow.

Meridian Energy's IPO is all about political risk.

The Government has driven a harder bargain in setting the fees for selling up to 49 per cent of Meridian Energy.

The Shareholders Association has welcomed a move by the stock exchange to help fund independent research on the Meridian Energy sharemarket float.

The Government is still working through the best way to sell down its stake in Air New Zealand but says it will be a faster sales process than the power companies.

The Government's decision to move earlier than signalled on the Meridian Energy float shows there is positive interest in the float but pricing will remain key

The Government has today announced a timeline for the Meridian float, in which it hopes to raise around $2.3 billion.

Treasury advised the Government not to pay the owners of the Tiwai Point smelter to keep the business running, documents released this afternoon show.