Weekly Digest – 11 October 2023

Welcome to our Weekly Digest – stay in the know with some recent news updates relevant to business and the economy.

The latest survey of business opinion from NZIER shows fewer firms are feeling negative

Business confidence is improving – though only slowly. The NZIER says a net 53 % of respondents expected a worsening of general economic conditions over the coming months, down from 59% in the last survey.

Things Kiwis are giving up as cost of living climbs

New Zealanders are feeling the pinch and cutting back on home renovations, electronics and apparel as the cost of living bites, Stuff reports.

Kiwi Facebook users concerned about marketplace scams

More than half of Kiwi Facebook users are concerned about being scammed on social media marketplaces, according to Cyber Safety brand, Norton.

Large rise in number of Kiwi businesses going under

Liquidation of Kiwi companies is up 36% on last year, according to new data from Centrix. Year-on-year, defaults were up in the property/rental sector (+35%), retail trade (+20%), hospitality (+16%), construction (+16%) and transport (+10). Credit demand was also up across all sectors, with the exception of property/rental.

Buying KiwiBuild no guarantee of delivery, couple find after three years

A first home buyer couple have been waiting three years for their new build, but now that it has finally been finished the developer has suddenly gone silent on them.

George the Farmer brought to 45 NZ schools

Forty-five primary schools across New Zealand will soon be better equipped to teach their students about where food and fibre come from after winning George the Farmer book sets in a competition run by agri lending specialist Rabobank.