The New Zealand government has pushed out its targeted return to surplus for a year as falling dairy prices and a low inflation environment has kept a lid on its rising tax take, but is still dangling a possible tax cut in 2017, the next election year and promising to try and achieve the surplus pledge on which it campaigned …

Buller Coal, the would-be Denniston Plateau coal miner owned by Bathurst Resources, has lost an application in the High Court to claim interest on a $4 million advance to Brightwater Engineers, the consultant for the escarpment mine. In 2010, Buller sought resource consent for its planned escarpment coal mine on Denniston Plateau, which was finalised in May this year. At the same time as seeking the consents, …

Economic growth is expected to average a historically high annual rate of 2.8 percent over the next five years, although growth will peak in the year to March 2015 at a slightly lower level than was forecast in the budget in May, the government’s half year economic and fiscal update says. Lower than expected inflation means the nominal value of …