Andrew Body

2 weeks ago | businessdesk.co.nz | Pattrick Smellie |Rebecca Stevenson |Victoria Young |Andrew Body

The Government is closely watching for the Commerce Commission’s decision on regulation of bank interchange fees that credit card companies, banks and fintecs fear will stifle banking competition, recently appointed Minister of Commerce Scott Simpson says.In an interview with BusinessDesk, Simpson made clear there was no capacity for intervention before the commission’s decision, believed to be imminent.

2 weeks ago | businessdesk.co.nz | Rebecca Stevenson |Victoria Young |Pattrick Smellie |Andrew Body

A $500 million funding boost for Kiwibank must come with checks and balances to ensure it doesn’t chase growth on risky loans the big four banks don’t want, a banking expert says. Treasury and Kiwibank's parent company are laying the groundwork for a private capital injection for the state-owned bank. Craigs Investment Partners has been appointed to give advice on proposals for funding by Kiwi Group Capital.

3 weeks ago | businessdesk.co.nz | Rebecca Howard |Andrew Body

The New Zealand dollar was largely steady after US president Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs, including a baseline minimal tariff of 10% on all countries. The NZD was trading at 57.33 US cents at 9:50am in Wellington versus 57.40 US cents just prior to the announcements. “Foreign nations will finally be asked to pay for access to our market,” Trump said.

3 weeks ago | businessdesk.co.nz | Deb Te Kawa |Andrew Body |Peter Griffin |David Chaplin

Minister for the Public Service Judith Collins is right. The public service needs a reset.The number of public servants has grown significantly since 2017, yet few would argue that services have improved.The Government’s just-announced move to amend the Public Service Act 2020 is well-judged.New Zealanders expect public service to deliver better results with the resources it has, but at the moment, it isn’t.

3 weeks ago | businessdesk.co.nz | Rebecca Howard |Andrew Body |Oliver Lewis

The Reserve Bank is expected to cut by 25 basis points next week to 3.50% but not everyone thinks they should.“This OCR cut is likely the wrong thing to do,” said Westpac Bank chief economist Kelly Eckhold.  The RBNZ’s next monetary policy decision is on April 9. “A more mandate-consistent approach would be to leave the official cash rate unchanged at this meeting and consider a 25 bp cut at the May Monetary Policy Statement,” he said. However, Eckhold said he expects the RBNZ to “act on past s...