![Reserve Bank tips tighter lending](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Reserve Bank tips tighter lending
The Reserve Bank says housing and dairy debt are major risks to the economy and changes to LVRs are possible.
The Reserve Bank says housing and dairy debt are major risks to the economy and changes to LVRs are possible.
Spending on credit and debit cards rose in April, driven by an increase for accommodation, hotels, restaurants and takeaway food.
The NZ government posted a budget surplus in the first nine months of the financial year, against a Treasury forecast for a deficit.
COMMENT: A generation seems not to have the work skills, aptitude and life skills to work for the wages employers are able to pay, writes Bernard Hickey.
COMMENT: 'The only genius I ever met," says Alan Bollard, the biographer of pioneering New Zealand economist Bill Phillips.
New Zealand has a productivity problem. We produce less per hour than most of the rest of the OECD and we aren't catching up.
A 16 per cent drop in the Bank of New Zealand's net profit after tax was due mainly to lower gains on financial instruments, affected
New Zealand's jobless rate rose in the first quarter as the nation's labour force recorded its biggest increase in 12 years.
Barfoot and Thompson reports the slowest April in four years, while Quotable Value says values were up 2.1pc over the past three months.
COMMENT: Barry Ritholtz checks out a report that does something he likes the least - makes a forecast.
A wage gap between men and women start earlier in their careers and has significantly widened for young workers.
COMMENT: When Bill English delivers his next Budget a month from now, he will no doubt portray the Govt as a model of providence and fiscal responsibility.
The intense conflict of interest between bankers and the rest of society is captured well in a passage from "Traders, Guns and Money," a book written by former banker Satyajit Das, writes Anat Admati.
The door remains open to further official cash rate cuts after the Reserve Bank held the OCR steady while predicting inflation will pick up.
WATCH: Has the Reserve Bank made a "poor call" keeping the OCR at 2.25 per cent?
The kiwi dollar has jumped 1.3 per cent after the Reserve Bank left rates on hold this morning.
The loss was $2.9 million in the 12 months ended March 31, from a loss of about $5.6 million a year earlier.
A top New Zealand property expert opposes a land tax and says a stamp duty is a far better option.
Bill English scotched speculation that a letter released today showed he is concerned about the Bank's performance.
COMMENT: From rising sea levels to flooded rivers, from drought to wildfire - scientists list the impacts of climate change.
New Zealand consumer confidence rose in April as Kiwis remained optimistic about the state of the economy.
New Zealand Oil & Gas has upgraded the developed reserves at the Kupe field off the Taranaki coast.
Jobseeker beneficiaries in Canterbury have jumped by 18pc in the past year as the massive rebuild winds down.
Dairy prices continued to firm at the latest GlobalDairyTrade auction, with the GDT price index gaining 3.8 per cent driven mostly by a big gain in whole milk powder prices.
The Reserve Bank could expand mortgage lending restrictions in an effort to head off the housing boom as it rolls down the country, economists say.
The NZ dollar touched its highest level in more than two weeks after oil prices recovered ground.
An Auckland economist says recent changes to tax and deposit rules didn't dampen the property market - and he expects prices to keep climbing.