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Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler kept the official cash rate at 2.5 percent in his debut review, and is keeping close tabs on the level of inflation after it dropped below the bank’s target band in the September quarter. Wheeler reintroduced the caveat that the record-low setting for the benchmark rate remains appropriate “for now” and brought inflation back in …

Finance Minister Bill English has welcomed strong investor demand today for the Government’s first issue of September 2025 inflation-indexed bonds. In the first issue of inflation-indexed bonds by the New Zealand Government since 1999, the Debt Management Office today issued $2.5 billion of the 2 per cent coupon bonds. The deal was heavily oversubscribed, with bids in excess of $4 …

Haier New Zealand Investment Company Ltd (Haier) has received necessary approvals from China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) to proceed with its offer to acquire all the shares in Fisher & Paykel Appliances Holdings Ltd. The offer remains subject to other regulatory approvals, including from the New Zealand Overseas Investment Office. About Haier Group Haier Group is a global …

ANZ Banking Group, New Zealand’s biggest bank, increased gross loans and advances by more than any of its main banking rivals in the three months to June 30, ahead of the announcement of the demise of its National Bank of New Zealand brand. The 1.26 percent growth in its gross loans and advances was bettered only by minnow The Cooperative …

China’s $US6 billion a year nutritional powders market will have a new competitor  next year with the launch a2 branded ‘natural milk’ powders. To further its entry into the Chinese market which is growing around 12 per cent a year, A2 Corporation has appointed China State Farms (Shanghai) as its distributor. The powders will be produced in New Zealand by …

President Barack Obama landed a lot of punches in his foreign policy debate with Mitt Romney in Boca Raton, Florida,” says Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove. “But President Obama’s truest line of the night was when he said to Governor Romney: ‘You say you would do the same things we did but you would just say them louder.’” …

The 2012/13 season is expected to be more subdued for pastoral farm businesses as product prices come off recent highs, the Ministry for Primary Industries says. MPI has released the 2012 pastoral farm analyses as part of its annual Farm Monitoring Report series. The reports provide models and overviews of the financial performance of typical dairy, sheep and beef, and …

Heritage Foundation experts have submitted five questions they consider vital to the foreign policy debate: Given that the Taliban movement still poses a threat to the futures of both Afghanistan and Pakistan, how do you plan to ensure stability in the region and prevent either country from serving as a base for international terrorists intent on attacking theU.S.? Over the last …

Chinese women dominate latest Hurun Report, half of the 22 self-made female entrepreneurs worth over US$1 billion are from China. The number of women making the cut this year fell from 28 in 2011 to 22. Of the top ten women on the list, seven are from China. The average wealth is 13.7 billion yuan, a decrease of 6.8 percent compared …

Lowy Institute’s Dr Michael Fullilove  “At first glance, the differences between the two candidates for president of the United States in 2012, President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney, are striking. Each candidate is doing his best to emphasise these differences. Most commentators have drawn sharp distinctions between the two candidates on foreign policy. Global perceptions of the two men …