New Zealand firms grew even gloomier in August as falling commodity prices and a lack of inflation looks set to keep profits down, and have scaled back their intentions to take on new staff or invest in their business. A net 29 percent of firms were pessimistic about the general economic outlook over the coming year, deteriorating from a net …

The Inland Revenue Department is proposing to introduce a withholding tax on foreign buyers of residential property from July next year as part of the government’s plans to crackdown on speculators. The tax department is proposing to implement the tax, which would require an amount to be withheld on the sale of residential property, to support the introduction of the …

The Bank of New Zealand is increasingly concerned the economy is grinding to a halt following today’s confirmation in the ANZ Bank Business Outlook survey of slumping business confidence. “As each day passes, the likelihood of our alternative scenario, of an economy stumbling to near-recession, increases,” said head of research Stephen Toplis in analysis released at much the same time as …