Category: Business

Source: Radio New Zealand

A recent insurance promotion in which customers were offered Prezzy cards for new business is a reminder to watch out for loyalty tax, Consumer NZ says.

Glenn Marshall, who is an insurance broker but is acting in a personal capacity as a consumer, has complained to IAG about a recent promotion across several of its brands, in which people taking out new insurance cover were offered $200 Prezzy cards.

He said it seemed to create a situation where those who were shifting to a new insurer were able to access bonuses that loyal customers could not.

“My wife and I own our own home, have no mortgage and savings. However, many households and pensioners are already struggling with premium increases. Promotions that reward churn – and effectively penalise loyalty – shift costs on to renewing customers.”

IAG told him in response that it was not a discount on the premium but an incentive for new business and was available to new and existing customers who initiated new business.

Marshall has also complained to the Financial Markets Authority.

A spokesperson told RNZ the authority was aware of the promotional offers.

“These types of promotions do not in themselves create concerns for us. They can support healthy competition by encouraging customers to shop around and choose the provider that best meets their needs.

“If consumers have concerns about any offer or promotion, they are welcome to contact us.”

Consumer NZ insurance spokesperson Rebecca Styles said similar promotions had been used in the past to induce customers to switch providers.

“It does highlight that existing customers are likely missing out on those deals, in what’s called a loyalty tax. We find in our surveying that most people set and forget insurance. We would encourage people to shop around and take advantage of these deals, providing that when they switch, they’re getting a good deal on their premiums and the policy details make sense for their circumstances.”

IAG has been approached for comment.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Finance Minister Nicola Willis is downplaying the economic risks New Zealand faces in the wake of the war in the Middle East and closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

She warned on Monday of potential “acute cost of living pressures” ahead, but said fuel excise tax would not be cut, partly because it would encourage people to use more petrol.

Asked about the “worst case scenario” predicted by Treasury – Willis said she had been told in the event of a prolonged conflict in Iran, inflation in New Zealand could reach 3.7%.

She said ministers were meeting daily on the issue, two-and-half weeks into the US-Israeli assault on Iran.

“We’re also going ahead with a weekly strategic meeting at which further decisions are being taken. We’re also receiving written situation updates twice daily. And of course, I updated Cabinet today on our strategy to date.”

Willis said there were three parts to the strategy – first, a focus on “mitigating the impact of the war on critical supply chains”.

She said on 8 March, when the last update from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment was issued, there was enough petrol either in the country or on the way for 57 days; diesel, 49 days and jet fuel, 47 days.

Thirteen vessels were on their way to New Zealand already, and three more set to leave soon.

The next update was due on Wednesday, and Willis said work was underway to make releases more frequent.

“It has been observed and reported on that demand at some petrol stations has increased, and we will factor that into our future updates.”

She said New Zealand’s largest fuel import terminal had not seen “any issues” with supply.

“Petrol prices have risen about 45 to 50 cents a litre, adding about $23 to the cost of filling an average car. We are acutely conscious of the impact this will be having for many New Zealanders.

“Diesel prices have risen about 72 cents a litre, adding about $36 to the cost of filling an average diesel vehicle.

“Despite these increases, prices are still slightly below their 2022 peak, although it is reasonable to assume they could go higher.”

Willis said the government was “anticipating, and to the extent possible mitigating the impact on the New Zealand economy, including what could potentially be acute cost of living pressures for some households”.

She said she had spoken to bank bosses who had assured her they would provide “an umbrella to businesses” they worked with.

“From the government’s point of view, we need to ensure that any support we provide to households is temporary, is targeted and is timely.”

She said official advice was that reducing fuel excise would “send the wrong signal” and not be sufficiently targeted.

More to come…

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

• Services sector slumps into contraction
• All five sub-indices retreat
• Negative comments stay elevated
• BNZ says PSI “a real disappointment”.

New Zealand’s services sector recovery has come to an abrupt halt after only two months in expansion.

The BNZ-BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index (PSI) fell by 2.7 points to 48.0 in January, below its long‑term average of 52.8.

A reading below 50 indicates the sector – which accounts for nearly three‑quarters of the economy – is contracting.

BusinessNZ’s chief executive Katherine Rich said that the service sector’s expansion had only lasted two months, and February’s result was similar to the levels of contraction seen towards the end of 2025.

All five sub‑indices fell into contraction.

Stocks/inventories recorded the deepest pullback at 46.7, followed by employment at 47.2. Activity/sales slid sharply to 47.9, and new orders/business dropped back below 50 to 49.3

The share of negative comments eased slightly to 56.4 percent in February, down from 58.7 percent in January.

Firms cited weak economic conditions, high living costs, inflation and interest rates suppressing consumer spending and demand.

BNZ’s senior economist Doug Steel said that bad weather in February may have played a part, but there was no denying that today’s PSI suggested that the economy is recovering at a slower pace than expected.

“The PSI comes as a real disappointment given that Friday’s Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) was relatively upbeat,” he said.

Steel said most indicators over recent months had pointed toward a slow recovery, but today’s release underlined how fragile that recovery remains.

The slow momentum, combined with uncertainty stemming from developments in the Middle East, leaves the inflation outlook “well and truly up in the air”.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Employers are being warned that they could be sent to prison if they take tax from their employees’ pay and do not send it to Inland Revenue.

The department has issued a “revenue alert” over the failure of some employers to pass on PAYE deductions.

These alerts are issued when there are significant or emerging tax issues of concern.

Employers must pay PAYE, as well as any other deductions from employees’ salaries, by the due dates. If they do not, they can face up to five years in prison.

Anyone who aids, abets, incites, or conspires with another person to commit to do that also commits a criminal offence. This means, for example, that the director of a company who decides that the company will not pay the deductions to Inland Revenue may be prosecuted for the company’s failure to pay.

Robyn Walker, tax partner at Deloitte, said it was a timely reminder that not paying PAYE was a really bad thing to do and the consequences could be serious.

“Historically it was always the case that not paying PAYE was an extremely frowned upon action, as this is tax which is being deducted from employee’s pay and held on trust by the employer. This is conceptually different to if a business is having trouble paying its own company tax bill, because it is other people’s money.

“Rightly or wrongly, during the Covid years there was more leniency applied to PAYE payments, and so some employers may have begun taking a more casual approach to paying PAYE. This can be seen in the statistics of what makes up tax debt – In September 2000 there was $800m of ’employer’ tax debt, the June 2025 statistics put this at $2m now.”

IR said it had taken legal action that had resulted in people being sent to prison.

In one case, a Christchurch woman was jailed for three years for taking $1.6 million from employee wages and not passing it on to the tax department.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Rules keeping a lid on the cost of calls and text messages between mobile providers’ networks could soon be scrapped.

Regulation introduced in 2010 sought to control what telcos could charge one another for calls and messages between their networks, otherwise known as the Mobile Termination Access Service.

The intervention was designed to help increase competition in a market dominated at the time by Telecom and Vodafone.

“The two big operators were squeezing 2degrees and they did that by making it cheaper to call within their own networks, while making it expensive for 2degrees to send calls to their networks,” says Tristan Gilbertson, Telecommunications Commissioner at the Commerce Commission.

“That squeeze created a structural disadvantage in the market for a new entrant like 2degrees.”

He says regulation gave 2degrees a chance to compete and grow into a strong third market player.

“Our view is that regulation has done the job it was intended to do and can step back,” says Gilbertson.

“Good regulation needs to know when to step in, but also when to step back and we think allowing competition to take over when it’s strong enough to do that, helps support investment, innovation and confidence in the sector.”

The Commerce Commission has passed on its recommendation to the Minister for Media and Communications for consideration.

Gilbertson says if approved, the telco sector will be left to its own devices on wholesale services pricing.

“The existing baseline of arrangements that have developed over the past 15 years will remain in place and competition will discipline the commercial arrangements over time,” he says.

“In practice, we really don’t think that very much will will change either at that inter-operator level, where existing arrangements are very well-entrenched in the market or at the retail level for consumers, this change should be invisible to consumers.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

‘Patient’ house buyers and sellers are prepared to negotiate or wait for the right price for their properties, the Real Estate Institute says.

The institute’s February data shows national median sale prices up 3.2 percent on a year earlier, to $795,000.

Auckland, Canterbury and Waikato had their highest number of sales since 2021 but, in general, homes were taking longer to sell around the country.

Most regions had median days to sell higher than their 10-year average for February. The national median was 56 days.

Across the country, there were 6523 sales in the month, up 0.3 percent compared to February last year.

Otago recorded a 13.2 percent increase in median price.

“The southern regions, particularly Otago and Southland, are maintaining strong momentum. In contrast, Northland continues to feel some downward pressure following recent severe weather and flooding. Nationally, the three-month trend points to a modest but steady lift in median prices nationally,” said institute chief executive Lizzy Ryley.

“The South Island is showing the most growth, Canterbury, Otago and Southland. A significant sales count happened in Auckland in February but the house price index for Auckland is flat. So it’s a mixed bag but relatively stable and you’re seeing patience on both sides of the negotiating table, with buyers and sellers.”

She said the war in the Middle East was creating many unknowns, on top of the approaching election.

“Interest rates have stabilised and I think there’s a bit of a view among buyers and sellers that it’s probably a good time to buy now to act before they rise. That’s why we’re seeing quite a reasonably active market.

“But none of us really knows how this impact of the ware and oil price and so on is going to have if it flows through into food prices and everything else. How the Reserve Bank will look at inflation and what they do with the OCR, that will probably flow through to the property market… but right now it’s not a frozen market, it’s an active market. You’ve got buyers and sellers waiting or negotiating for the right price.”

Investors were less active, she said.

Infometrics said the increase in prices between January and February was the sharpest in two-and-a-half years.

“Prices are still lower than a year ago across much of the North Island, including falls of 3.6 percent per annum in Gisborne and 2.9 percent in Wellington. Tasman is the only South Island region currently showing an annual price fall, while Southland has the strongest price growth, at 7 percent.”

It said Otago, Northland and Auckland had led the sales growth in recent months and the number of homes listed for sale dropped for the fourth consecutive month when seasonally adjusted, the longest run of declines since mid-2023.

“February’s result suggests more stability in the housing market, after sales declines in November 2025 and January 2026 had pointed towards a softening market. This assessment of a more stable market is reinforced by less negative trends for house prices and the stock of properties.

“However, the Iran War has recently led to significant increases in petrol prices and wholesale interest rates. If higher fuel prices continue for any sustained period, they will undermine New Zealand’s economic recovery and hit consumer confidence. In tandem with upward pressure on mortgage rates, international events could weaken housing market demand in coming weeks and lead to renewed downward pressure on house sales and prices.”

ANZ economists said the increase in prices was surprisingly strong but was unlikely to represent a shift in the underlying direction of the market.

“However, we are doubtful that this represents a shift in the underlying direction in the market. Other indicators of housing demand are not showing the same strength, including sales volumes – which remain a touch below their long run average – and days to sell – which lengthened further in February. Today’s data also refers to a period before the conflict in the Middle East broke out. Nervousness about how the conflict could impact the economy here will add to the sense of caution among buyers in the coming months.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has weighed in on the resignation of the Fonterra CEO, saying his departure was expected after the sale of “iconic Kiwi dairy brands” to a foreign owned company.

“CEO Miles Hurrell has resigned and will leave once his bonuses are paid,” Peters said on social media.

“We said this exact thing would happen in our open letter to farmers last year – he of course denied it.”

Hurrell announced on Monday he was leaving the dairy co-op after 25 years, saying it was not an easy decision to step away, but the time was right for the co-op and him personally.

Hurrell said Fonterra was entering the next phase in its strategic implementation, which marked a natural turning point for a new leader to step in.

The co-op’s sale of its consumer brands to French dairy giant Lactalis went unconditional earlier this month.

Peters said Hurrell had “sold off” almost every consumer brand since he started, “leaving Fonterra as a commodity price taker, not a market maker”.

“Their decision leaves serious questions for New Zealand about what we must do to protect dairy manufacturing in our country as a result of Fonterra’s dereliction of duty.”

Peters said the last time a Fonterra CEO resigned, Theo Spierings in 2018, he was paid out a “ridiculous” $4.67 million after being paid a total of $43m in just seven years in the role.

Peters questioned how much Hurrell would be “paid out”.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Shoppers are being told to brace themselves for higher prices at the checkout as the conflict in the Middle East drives up the cost of freight and fuel.

New Infometric’s data shows supplier costs rose 2.3 percent in February compared with a year ago.

Chief executive and principal economist Brad Olsen told Morning Report the increase was an average, with some household staples – such as bread and chocolate – rising more sharply than other commodities.

He said the data didn’t yet reflect the impact of the war in Iran – but expected the effect of it to flow through to food prices within the next three months.

Olsen said the transport industry was responding to rising fuel prices and operators were adjusting their rates accordingly.

He said that would have an impact on supermarkets.

“In terms of the broader supermarket sector in New Zealand, 10 percent of non-wage input costs come directly from transport, so it’s a fairly big line item that starts to hit there.”

Olsen expected other producers to weigh up whether or not to increase prices now – juggling preserving margins and maintaining sales numbers.

“I think there will be a little bit of caution in some areas around pushing prices on,” Olsen said.

“For the likes of transport costs specifically, we’ve had a look and margins do look a lot thinner now over the last couple of years, so we do expect a more immediate pass-through.”

He said businesses were likely to respond differently to the uncertainty around how long the war would last.

“Businesses are also thinking… ‘Do I wait it out? Might things stabilise and calm down within the next week or so?’ … Reality suggests that that’s probably further away.

“They are probably wondering how much do they… take on themselves in the short term and then potentially have to raise prices, or again do they try and push things through because they’re under a lot of pressure.”

Olsen expected supplier costs to increase further and would hit some items harder than others.

“It’s more likely that it will come through on specific items that do take more to transport or do take more fuel into account in their production process.

“It will be uneven, but we’re certainly not expecting to see double-digit increase, but the pressure would be on.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Retailers want changes to new gift card expiry rules, saying certain aspects will cause compliance headaches and put debt pressure on businesses.

From Monday, all gift cards sold or given out with a purchase will need to have a minimum expiry date of three years.

Chief executive Retail New Zealand, Carolyn Young, says small businesses will have to have much higher liabilities on their balance sheets, for longer.

“Currently, businesses that run those sorts of promotions generally have a 60-day to 90-day expiry on those cards, so it’s quite a shift.”

Young said on the whole retailers supported the legislation, but they would like changes to make the rules more streamlined.

“Currently, businesses that run those sorts of promotions generally have a 60-day to 90-day expiry on those cards, so it’s quite a shift. “

The new rules aim to make things fairer for consumers and bring New Zealand closer to Australia’s laws.

Commerce Commission principal compliance advisor Grant McIntosh told Morning Report on Monday it was a “big step forward for consumers”.

“It’s a really broad definition under the new rules and it includes a lot of different gift cards – from those really typical examples that you might get in clothing stores or electronics outlets, to things like prepaid cards that you can use in multiple different stores.”

Prepaid top-up cards for telecommunication services, public transport, electricity, gas, or water services have been excluded. Any other prepaid top-up cards have to adhere to the new minimum expiry. Loyalty points are not affected, and gift cards given out free would be exempt.

“These are all exemptions that were put into the legislation. This was a member’s bill that went through the process around 18 months ago,” McIntosh explained. “The rationale… was all discussed at the time. It wasn’t a decision that [the Commerce Commission] made individually.”

The bill passed its third reading with all parties but ACT voting in favour.

The commission has for years put out regular reminders, particularly around big shopping events like Christmas, that gift cards often had expiry dates sooner than their owners might realise.

Old gift cards sold before 16 March, 2026, will still expire on their original dates. But any sold from then onwards – regardless of what date is written on them – will have to abide by the new rules.

“The really good news for consumers is that even if the gift card is purchased today onwards and doesn’t have that three-year expiry date stated on it like it should, the law is very clear that they are entitled to that three-year period. So first and foremost, they can still use that gift card.”

Anyone with concerns was able to contact the commission, he said.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

The CEO of one of New Zealand’s largest independent fuel suppliers says there is no need for people to panic-buy fuel as motorists worry about rising prices.

Petrol stations across the country are seeing a surge of drivers filling up as petrol prices rise.

Petrol (91) has tipped over the $3 a litre mark in some areas because of the conflict in the Middle East.

US President Donald Trump is calling for countries to send ships to secure the Strait of Hormuz, which is effectively closed as Iran launches attacks to halt maritime traffic.

The area is critical because around 20 percent of the world’s oil consumption or 20 million barrels a day, usually passes through it.

It’s resulted in several petrol stations running dry over the weekend.

Waitomo CEO Simon Parham said demand at the company’s petrol station has increased by about 15 percent.

“We’ve had the odd run out from here and there, but it’s really been for a maximum of 30 minutes,” he told Morning Report.

“What we are seeing is that increase in demand, coupled with a very stressed driver system, anything from a delay at the terminal to a truck breaking down, it’s just caused that slight delay in he system, so you have a slight run out.

“There’s nothing to worry about.”

He expects to see the demand soften.

“In saying that, $20 doesn’t buy you what $20 did two weeks ago at the pump.”

Parham said New Zealand has 50 days’ worth of fuel and is optimistic this can be managed.

“We’re still in good shape… There’s no need to panic. Yes, we are suffering from high prices, which is tough on everyone, but there is no need to panic at the moment.”

He said if the cargo orders can’t be placed, that’s when New Zealand may need to look at managing stock.

“If we are staying around that 50-day mark, that’s a rolling 50 days, then we’re fine. If we start to see that drop back, then that’s when we have to manage stock,” Parham said.

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