It was put forward by the New Zealand's Treasury on Monday via a report that it hopes the real GDP to drop nearly 1% in the March quarter. Furthermore, in the first quarter, the demand and output declined again, leading to decreases in capacity utilization and the demand for labor.

It has been predicted that output in significant trading partners of New Zealand weighted by their share of exports is expected to decrease nearly 2.5% this year. 

A parliamentary committee has been told by Federated Farmers that since the emissions trading scheme (ETS) would create economic disaster, it should be scrapped. 

The previous government had designed the ETS and passed before the election.

However, it has been put on hold by the new government, which is reviewing it through a special committee of selected members. 

Recent reports by most of economists have predicted that New Zealand’s unemployment would increase pat 5% this week; and thus the struggling businesses would be affected by the loosening labor market. 

Presently, the rate of unemployment taken from the December quarter is 4.7% and it has been forecasted by economists that number would be as high as 5.3% when the March quarter results come out on Thursday.

It has recently come to vision that credit companies would be able to gain more access to the financial details of people who are seeking to borrow money under a proposal being investigated by privacy watchdogs.

Under this proposal, the credit companies would be able to find out whether previous credit applications had been approved, what they were for, who lent the money, what the credit limit was, and whether the account was still open.

As of now, they can only scrutinize how many times an individual has applied for credit and any negative details.

New Zealand Trade and Enterprise re-launched its New Zealand Export Awards as the New Zealand International Business Awards, with a first prize of $100,000 for the winner.

The first prize shall be given to an overall winner in all the categories and would also recognise an emerging and an outstanding business leader making a significant contribution to the expand business internationally.

In the re-launched award, ANZ is the new strategic partner and the company has made bigger contribution in increasing the amount for the first prize.

The lowest number of monthly sales since 1992 has been recorded by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ). The January sales figures of the institute display that just 3,706 homes were sold nationwide as compared with 5,186 in January last year.

According to REINZ president Mike Elford, the low turnover is a concern, and the benefit of lower interest rates is yet to make its mark.

In his statement, Elford said, "Its clear evidence that people are treading cautiously and reflects the uncertainty of the wider economic environment."