The New Zealand dollar and interest rate swaps tumbled in the wake of the move that took the official cash rate to 2.5%, as investors bet on more stimulus in the coming months to shore up demand and buffer the economy from rising global headwinds, Reuters reported. “The Committee reached consensus to reduce the official cash rate by 50 basis points to 2.5 percent,” the Reserve Bank of New Zealand said in its accompanying policy statement.
Read more
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has established a new committee for the conduct of financial policy, giving it power over issues around financial stability and prudential issues for banks, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Financial Policy Committee will set debt-to-income and loan-to-value ratios for banks, thus giving it enormous power over the country’s housing sector. The FPC will consist of the RBNZ board chair, the central bank’s governor, and three other RBNZ board members, with up to two members who aren’t RBNZ board members or employees of the RBNZ.
Read more
New Zealand’s Institute of IT Professionals has discovered it is insolvent and advised members it has no alternative but to enter liquidation, TheRegister.com reported. The Institute (ITP) wrote to members on Thursday and posted a document titled “Important Update on ITP’s Future” that reveals it has “reached a point where the organization cannot continue. After a full review of our finances, the Board has confirmed that ITP is insolvent.” Insolvency seems to have come as something of a surprise. “These debts are historic. They go back over many years.
Read more
Synlait Milk reported a much narrower annual net loss on Monday and announced the sale of its North Island assets for NZ$307 million ($177.2 million) to U.S.-based Abbott Laboratories sending its shares surging, Reuters reported. The New Zealand-based dairy firm's shares rose as much as 20.7% to trade at NZ$0.845, posting their biggest intraday gain since February 17, while the broader market was flat. The shares hit their highest level since March 25.
Read more