Best of Business

An Auckland restaurant owner says crime in the inner city could dash any hope of his business recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic. Besos Latinos Restaurante's Luis Cabrera says one of his wait staff was mugged on her way home on Friday. He's already facing staff shortages and other challenges due to Covid, and couldn't open yesterday after she became too scared to come to work. Cabrera says his...

Prepare for prices to keep rising, but perhaps at a slightly slower pace. CPI data out this morning is expected to show the inflation rate has hit about 7.1 percent in the year to June, a three-decade high. While that's likely to be the peak of the current inflationary period, it won't be the end of it. Finance Minister Grant Robertson told Tim Dower there isn't any way to "magic away" the global...

Christopher Luxon said that New Zealand businesses have gotten soft in light of COVID-19 but is that a fair comment to make. Businesses have had to deal with changes in restrictions, staff shortages due to sickness and more.  CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Michael Barnett thinks some businesses would take offence to this comment, business isn't sitting back with its hand out. Barnett joined...

A surprise intervention by US Vice-President Kamala Harris, the China-Solomon Island's security pact, and the Sri Lankan President fleeing to Singapore.  Asian business correspondent Peter Lewis joined Andrew Dickens to discuss the Pacific Island's forum and other business news.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Solving job shortages might not be as easy as it seems. Bringing immigrants into the country means government will have to invest more into infrastructure but training up kiwis might not be as easy either.  Business commentator Rod Oram joined Andrew Dickens  to discuss empty jobs and how to fill them.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Here come the banks on the back of the OCR hike. Both ASB and Kiwibank have raised their variable home lending rate - 5.85% to 6.35% for ASB and 5.5 to 6% for KiwiBank. But the good news for customers is that it has meant an increase in saving deposit rates. Kiwibank CEO Steve Jurkovich joined Mike Hosking. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Farmer confidence is at its lowest level since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the latest Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey. Possible reasons such as spiralling costs for a host of key farm inputs — including fuel, fertiliser, feed and labour, alongside concerns over Government policy are said to have led to this. Federated Farmers President Andrew Hoggard joined Kerre Woodham....

Acclaimed Auckland restaurant Cassia is shaking up its operations and opening seven days a week in order to meet customer demand. They also want to provide a better work-life balance for staff. Their employees will work a four-day week while still earning the same salary, and to achieve this they'll be hiring 15 extra staff. Cassia is owned by restaurateurs Sid and Chand Sahrawat and Chand joined...

Move over kumara, it's vape outlets that Dargaville is becoming known for. There are 13 within a one kilometre radius in the Northland town. Kaipara District Council is calling for vape sales to be restricted to R18, and set up proximity limits to prevent clustering of stores. Mayor Jason Smith told Mike Hosking they're seeing vaping proliferation generating new demand, particularly among youths....

An aviation expert says changes are needed to Air New Zealand's customer service. The airline is facing significant challenges as it gears up for its busiest month since the start of the pandemic. Along with flights being delayed or cancelled, some customers have complained they're waiting for hours to get through to the call centre. Aviation commentator Irene King told Kate Hawkesby they need to...

Expect another rise in interest rates. The Reserve Bank is expected to increase the OCR by 50 basis points this afternoon, to 2.5 percent. Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen told Kate Hawkesby while some parts of the economy are struggling, inflation remains high. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Reserve Bank's move today regarding the OCR seems to be a foregone conclusion. Anyone who's anyone in the finance world is predicting another 50 point rise, the third in a row - putting the OCR at 2.5 percent. Head of Banking and Finance at KPMG John Kensington joined Mike Hosking. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's just one day left until Christchurch finds out if it will push ahead with its controversial stadium. The city council's confirmed it took some negotiation, but lead contractor BESIX Watpac has agreed to a fixed price contract, meaning the figure won't exceed $683 million. More than 30,000 public submissions have been made on the project - 77 per cent in support of the council  spending the...

A damning report has come out this week, revealing what can only be described as financial meltdown at the new polytech mega-merger. Pattrick Smellie from Business Desk who has been looking into this joined Andrew Dickens. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A different approach to filling nursing shortages. Health New Zealand is going to meet with nine nursing schools as they call for more funding. Perpetual Guardian Foundation is a charitable organisation which gives scholarships to nurses to advance their training via private donors. Foundation Philanthropy Manager Kirsten Killian-Taylor told Kate Hawkesby they want to help. She says the charity se...

Shares of Twitter slid more than 11% in the first day of trading after billionaire Elon Musk said that he was abandoning his $44 billion bid for the company and the social media platform vowed to challenge Musk in court to uphold the agreement. Twitter is now preparing to sue Musk in Delaware where the company is incorporated. While the outcome is uncertain, both sides are preparing for a long cou...

We are getting more and more young people into business. The amount of young people between 18 and 30 running their own business is growing in what we call the purpose led business space. Young enterprise scheme chief executive Terry Shubkin joined Mike Hosking. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kiwifruit growers have a big decision to make soon over the future of the most popular SunGgold fruit. Zespri want to expand their overseas planting area of SunGold by up to 10,000 hectares in each country, excluding China and Cchile. It's all to try and counter China and their SunGold kiwifruit crops. The issue is a similar proposition and vote failed last year. Zespri Chief Grower, Industry and...

Concerns have been raised that the Master Builder guarantee is not in fact a guarantee at all. A number of customers have made complaints to the Master Builders Aassociation after the building company they were with went into receivership or liquidation. In these cases, despite the guarantee having been paid for, it had never been filed to the association, leaving people to have paid hundreds of t...

Conservation groups have concerns a new fisheries bill will rule out public consultation when it comes to decisions made about fishing by MPI. The new reforms would mean that MPI can make decisions about any fishing rule without input from the public. MPI will only have to give an update to the public without including them in discussion. Deep Sea Conservation Coalition spokesperson Karli Thomas j...

The dust has settled on Jacinda Ardern's trip to Australia. The initial signs are that the trip went well for both sides due to the commonality between both governments. Australia has also pledged an easier path to citizenship for Kiwis by Anzac Day next year. Both leaders now head to the Pacific Islands Forum this week. The forum is not off to the best of starts with Kiribati already pulling out....

The cost of fuel is hitting the trucking industry. The industry body for trucking says the rise in cost of fuel has put a number of businesses on the verge of collapse. Transporting NZ surveyed 400 transport companies and found that a fifth of them are unable to pass any more of their fuel costs onto customers.  Transporting NZ CEO Nick Leggett joined Andrew Dickens. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.co...

A reminder of just how close to the surface the carnage of our Covid response is. I am standing Friday in a retail outlet, when the owner comes to me and says look what I have just received. It's a text from his friend who is inside the government and tells him there is an announcement coming Monday, as in today, moving us back into the red traffic light setting. He said he wanted to cry. In that...

Businesses are being pushed to the brink as staff sickness upsets workplace rosters. Flu season is in full swing, combining with a spike in Covid-19 case numbers and hospitalisations. Global modelling suggests up to 45 percent of new Covid cases could be re-infections, thanks to the virulent BA5 Omicron strain. Employers and Manufacturers' Association Chief Executive Brett O'Riley  told Kate Hawke...

Our Covid numbers are going back up and the experts are warning of a second wave. Employers are being told to brace for another round of long periods of workers off with sick leave. But with that come responsibilities for an employer, especially around getting someone who's out with Covid to still work - with that possibly leading to long Covid and potential claims. Employment specialist Jennifer...