Venkat Raman – The growing need to regulate the insurance sector has obliged the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) to reinforce stability and protect the financial markets in general and insurers in particular against late pay-outs arising out of natural and other disasters. A number of measures announced by the central bank in recent years have tightened systems and…
Read More A Correspondent – Halal Tourism is beginning to gain ground in New Zealand, a proof of which is the success achieved by a Symposium held on March 23, 2015 at the Auckland Institute of Studies (AIS). The one-day event attracted more than 50 participants in the tourism sector. The Symposium was the second in an annual series, the first of…
Read MoreMore than 150 persons have raised their voice against the decision of the Victoria University to dispense with the services of Professor of Philosophy Dr Jaysankar Lal Shaw. Stated to be a ‘declaration of redundancy,’ the move is effectively an act of dismissal, says Alexander Janet, a lead petitioner. He sent us the following: Reconsider Dr Jay Shaw’s position as…
Read MoreGurbrinder Aulakh – The New Superannuation and Retirement Income (Pro-Rata Entitlement) Amendment Bill 2015, in the name of Denis O’ Rourke of the New Zealand First party, was recently defeated at the Parliament. The Bill proposed pro-rata entitlement to pension based on the time spent in New Zealand. The Bill would have allowed a full pension only to those who,…
Read More Stephen Toplis – New Zealand’s annual current account deficit stood at 3.5% of GDP in the year to June. That looks a bit better than the 3.7% anticipated by the market (and us), but mainly on (a host of) historical revisions. The deficit for the year to March was revised to 3.4% of GDP, from 3.6% previously published. Therefore, the…
Read More Leicester Gouwland – Inland Revenue Department (IRD) recently released an officials’ paper on ‘Resident Land Withholding Tax,’ a tax to apply to offshore sellers of residential land, who have held the land for less than two years, (except for the main family home). The withholding tax is an estimate of the income tax liability a seller may have. It does…
Read More Professor Jarrod Haar – New research from Massey University has compared work/life balance and life satisfaction levels across seven cultures and found that New Zealand Māori scored the highest on both fronts. While the survey respondents do not represent all Māori, it does show that culture plays a role in the way people assess their own sense of wellbeing. All…
Read More Venkat Raman Migrants gaining a better understanding of various aspects of New Zealand will enable them to integrate better in to their newly adopted society enabling them to contribute better to the progress of our country, a Minister of the Crown said. Ethnic Communities Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-liga said that people from various parts of the world choose New Zealand…
Read More Venkat Raman One of the most popular chain of restaurants has just changed hands to offer stronger brand value and quality food to New Zealanders. Lawrence and Eric Pereira, who have achieved significant milestones in the retail industry for almost three decades have recently established ‘Oporto Franchising New Zealand,’ the Master Franchisee for Oporto in New Zealand. The association of…
Read More New Zealand’s terms of trade rose 1.3% in the second quarter. This was against market and our expectations of a reasonable fall. Despite being a sizeable upside surprise on the day, we would not overstate its significance. The terms of trade is the ratio of export prices to import prices. A lot of the surprise, to us at least, was…
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