New Zealand needs to avoid a costly regulatory over-reaction to the Christchurch earthquakes, says Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard.

Anyone hoping for a weekend fix to the global banking sector will have to wait a little longer - perhaps a lot longer.

Now the dust has settled on 'Double-Downgrade Day', it's worth looking at what it all means.

Greece's sovereign debt woes could end up affecting New Zealand's access to credit and slowing down the country's economic growth, says Alan Bollard.

Finance Minister Bill English said that compared to the pessimism in the United States, the New Zealand was in "pretty good shape."

New Zealand's economy probably slowed from its surprisingly robust first-quarter pace in the second three months of 2011 as construction stayed weak and manufacturing continued to tread water.

Bernard Hickey with ten questions about the European debt mess and what it might mean for New Zealand.

Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard is expected to keep the official cash rate unchanged next week while signalling the stimulus of a record-low OCR will be removed sooner rather than later as inflation pressures start to stir.

Stocks in Europe and Italian fixed-income securities were pummelled on concern about the euro zone's debt crisis. The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index ended the day with a 4.1 per cent drop.

Global turmoil in global markets means the next OCR hike is now likely to be December, not September, say a growing number of bank ecnomists.

New Zealand lifted spending on credit and debit card transactions marginally last month.

The Dow has plummeted 4.4 percent overnight, dropping below the 11,000 level for the first time since November, as markets continued a global sell-off. It comes as Standard and Poor's warns New Zealand is among the countries that could suffer...