Standard & Poor's Rating Services says the government is likely to be called on to fund claims from the Christchurch earthquake.

As many as 30 per cent of the notes, printed at a cost of roughly $120m, have been left with a blank strip on their face.

The New Zealand dollar slowly recovered yesterday after it fell to its lowest level against the greenback in nearly four weeks overnight after a shelling exchange on the Korean peninsula added to the US currency's appeal as a safe haven.