The Reserve Bank will get an expanded range of tools to shore up financial stability, including the ability to set loan-to-value ratios on residential mortgages and force banks to hold more capital against risky lending, by the middle of the year, Finance Minister Bill English says. The Reserve Bank will consult on its proposals for the macro-prudential tools next month, …

A jump in Americans arriving in New Zealand on cruise ships failed to arrest a 2.3 percent overall decline in the number of short-term visitors last month, with Chinese tourists tumbling by a fifth. Some 260,600 tourists visited New Zealand in January for a short-term stay, down from 266,800 a year earlier, according to Statistics New Zealand. The decline came …

New Zealand recorded a trade deficit in January, reflecting a larger-than-expected decline in exports led by dairy products, while imports rose. The deficit was $305 million last month, for an annual trade gap of $1.3 billion, according to Statistics New Zealand. That compares to the forecast in a Reuters survey of a $100 million surplus. Exports fell to $3.35 billion …