The SME Stream

Inflation could fall in the latest figures, but rising fuel costs are already threatening another squeeze on household budgets. Could more interest rate hikes follow—and what would that mean for an economy still struggling to build momentum?
On The Economy of Everything, Liam Dann and Tamsyn Parker discuss the gap between economic recovery and how people actually feel, why that’s a difficult sell ahead of the election, and the prospect of another tough Christmas for retailers.
Plus, they unpack a report warning compulsory KiwiSaver could leave some low-income earners worse off, the arguments for compulsory saving, and the balancing act between retirement savings and mortgage debt.
Brought to you in partnership with CMC Markets.
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Today's the day New Zealand's landmark free trade agreement with India enters into force.
The deal creates new opportunities for our exporters with one of world's fastest growing markets - by giving us preferential access.
Almost 57% of our existing trade can now enter India duty-free and over time, tariffs will be reduced or removed for 95% of our exports.
Tariffs are being eliminated right away on sheep meat, wool, coal and more than 95 percent of forestry and wood products.
Today on The Front Page, Meat Industry Association (MIA) independent chair Nathan Guy is with us to go through what this means for New Zealand’s red meat sector.
Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network.
Host: Chelsea Daniels
Editor/Producer: Richard Martin
Producer: Jane Yee
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Our Superannuation fund is seeing great returns, but growth is still needed for the long term.
The 25-year-old fund is now worth $94.35 billion dollars, excluding tax, with it earning $9.3 billion in the past reporting year – a return of almost 14.2%.
Infometrics' Brad Olsen told Andrew Dickens that it's useful money to have, but the expectation for the fund is to grow it to $200 billion by 2040.
He says there's a lot of growth still to come, but it's at a time when the bill is still growing and we have to pay for it in the short term.
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Retailers are celebrating the Police crackdown on retail crime.
Annual Ministry of Justice data to June, shows record-high finalised charges for theft from a retail premises, topping 21-thousand - more than tripling since 2022.
Retail NZ believes offending's down as much as 30 percent since last year.
Chief Executive Carolyn Young told Andrew Dickens Police's national retail crime unit has had success tracking repeat offenders.
She says they're able to pull together a file on someone connecting a wide range of offences from different stores and send officers to apprehend them.
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The Police Association is highlighting that retail crime is falling amidst rising related charges.
Annual Ministry of Justice data to June shows record-high finalised charges for theft from a retail premises at over 21,000 – more than triple that of four years ago.
Convictions also reached nearly 18,000, also more than tripling over the same period.
Police Association President Steve Watt told Mike Hosking it goes to show the hard work Police are putting in.
He says as convictions have risen, they're seeing decreases in the number of instances of retail crime.
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