As business owners, you know how hard it is keeping up with your business, let alone the news. Join Wilhelmina Shrimpton each week as she gives you a rundown of the biggest stories that could impact on your business, so you can make informed decisions with expert advice.

This week, another day another visa, the government ramps up efforts to attract more foreign investment, our economy is slow, but are we moving faster than our Aussie neighbours? Plus retail sales are up, our insurance costs are skyrocketing, and we preview a great conversation about navigating the purchase of a second home.

The podcasts in the SME Stream contain general information only, not financial or professional advice. Any opinions expressed in the podcasts are not necessarily shared by BNZ, or its related entities. BNZ is not liable for any losses resulting from the content of the podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new visa to attract businesspeople to New Zealand has been established by the Government, and really, it's only a matter of days, perhaps weeks, before a loosening on restrictions for foreigners being able to purchase residential property here is announced. Christopher Luxon, the Prime Minister, when he was last in-studio with me, said we’ll be announcing that shortly. I said you’ll never get that past Winston Peters, but he said watch this space. So, he's been dropping very heavy hints for some time now that the restrictions on foreigners being able to buy property here were about to be lifted.

In the meantime, the Government’s announced the Business Investor Visa, and that will give foreign businesspeople investing $2 million into an existing business here a fast track to residency in New Zealand. A $1 million investment comes with a three-year work to residency pathway. It also comes with conditions, as Immigration Minister Erica Stanford told Mike Hosking this morning.

“This is more about people who have got business experience of running businesses –we will check that. Investing in a business, that they have to be here at least 184 days a year, be a tax resident, and actively run the business. They have to be able to speak English, there's an age limit. Whereas the Active Investor Plus is more about their capital and their business connections and they only have to spend a week a year here in order to get their residence – so very, very different. We're not talking huge numbers. This is not like an Oprah-style everyone gets a visa as I think you mentioned this morning, we're thinking probably in the first year between sort of 100 and 150 potentially.”

So there are conditions associated with this particular visa such as requiring applicants to speak English, and that's something that I know concerned a number of you when we were talking about schools and the changes to the curriculum in education. When we've had discussions about that, a number of you have been really concerned about the number of young kids arriving here who don't speak English and the challenges that puts on a classroom, and more specifically, a teacher. So hopefully they are policing that English language criteria quite strictly. There are also conditions to meet alongside of health, character, and business experience, and certain businesses are excluded, such as adult entertainment, convenience stores, and fast-food outlets.

Now I know that a number of people are dead against having more people coming into the country. You've told me that, and you've certainly sent me plenty of text messages about having more people coming into the country. We haven't got enough houses for the existing people. We've got wait lists up the wazoo. It's just going to put more pressure on our health system. It's going to drive house prices up. I think we have seen that the biggest driver of house prices was locking people inside their own country, lowering interest rates, and allowing speculation to boom. That did more damage to the housing and the property market than any migrant businessperson could ever do.

So, we're building more houses, we’re opening up pathways for consent so that even more houses can be built. To clear up the waiting lists, we do need to bring in doctors, nurses. We didn't have enough at the time. We didn't have enough workers at the time, and even in a time of high unemployment, businesses still aren't finding the people that they need to make their businesses more productive.

I'm for it. I mean $1 million, as we heard yesterday when we were talking about how much you need to retire, $1 million to become a Kiwi doesn't sound like a lot of money, does it? Especially when you open it up to the global market. But if there are conditions there, it they're required to live in New Zealand for much of the year, to pay their taxes to be working in the business, to be growing the business, if certain businesses are excluded so that we steer people into productive businesses, surely it can only be good for New Zealand.

The podcasts in the SME Stream contain general information only, not financial or professional advice. Any opinions expressed in the podcasts are not necessarily shared by BNZ, or its related entities. BNZ is not liable for any losses resulting from the content of the podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More money could soon circulate through the economy as the Government opens up the country to more overseas businesspeople.

Under its new Business Investor Visa, foreign investors who put at least $2 million into a Kiwi business will be granted a 12-month fast-track to residence pathway.

People who invest $1 million will be given a three-year work-to-residence option.

ABC Business Sales Managing Director Chris Small told Kerre Woodham more capital needs to be brought in.

He says when it starts going towards business owners, it'll be recycled back into our economy.

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The podcasts in the SME Stream contain general information only, not financial or professional advice. Any opinions expressed in the podcasts are not necessarily shared by BNZ, or its related entities. BNZ is not liable for any losses resulting from the content of the podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been revealed the Reserve Bank chairman sent a warning letter to Treasury in the wake of Adrian Orr's resignation.

Neil Quigley warned that it would 'immediately destroy the goodwill' between the two entities if it publicly released details of the fateful meeting.

NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny explained further.

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The podcasts in the SME Stream contain general information only, not financial or professional advice. Any opinions expressed in the podcasts are not necessarily shared by BNZ, or its related entities. BNZ is not liable for any losses resulting from the content of the podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The state of the US Federal Reserve has always prompted responses from financial markets, but recent actions from the Trump administration have raised eyebrows.

Trump recently came out and said he was going to fire Federal Reserve Board member Lisa Cook earlier in the week.

Milford Asset Management's Andrew Curtayne unpacked the market reactions

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The podcasts in the SME Stream contain general information only, not financial or professional advice. Any opinions expressed in the podcasts are not necessarily shared by BNZ, or its related entities. BNZ is not liable for any losses resulting from the content of the podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More foreign investors could soon flock in to work hard on Kiwi businesses.

The Government's new Business Investor Visa will give foreign businesspeople who invest at least $2 million into an existing Kiwi business a fast-track to residency.

If a business is worth $2 million, the applicant would have to buy it, and if it's worth more, they'd have to invest at least a quarter of its total value.

Auckland Business Chamber Chief Executive Simon Bridges told Ryan Bridge this definitely justifies a fast-track to residency.

He says the person who buys will have to work on the business for a period of time.

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The podcasts in the SME Stream contain general information only, not financial or professional advice. Any opinions expressed in the podcasts are not necessarily shared by BNZ, or its related entities. BNZ is not liable for any losses resulting from the content of the podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Belief an improving gender pay gap is due to a weaker labour market.

Stats NZ's revealed the difference in pay between women and men fell to 5.2% in the June quarter - its lowest point to date

A year ago, it was 8.2%.

Mind the Gap co-founder Dellwyn Stuart told Ryan Bridge the number will likely go back up as the economy improves and more part-time jobs become available again for women.

She says they're still carrying majority of the parenting load and tend to opt for part-time roles more, which are often the ones cut first.

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The podcasts in the SME Stream contain general information only, not financial or professional advice. Any opinions expressed in the podcasts are not necessarily shared by BNZ, or its related entities. BNZ is not liable for any losses resulting from the content of the podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lower mortgage rates and income growth have helped improve housing affordability.

Cotality NZ’s new report finds the national value-to-income ratio reached its lowest point since mid-2019 in the June quarter, at 7.5%.

National property values also remain almost 17% below their post-covid peak.

Cotality Chief Property Economist Kelvin Davidson told Mike Hosking mortgage serviceability has seen a significant change, compared to its 2022 high of 57%.

He says it now takes around 44% of the median household income, so it's getting close to normal.

LISTEN ABOVE

The podcasts in the SME Stream contain general information only, not financial or professional advice. Any opinions expressed in the podcasts are not necessarily shared by BNZ, or its related entities. BNZ is not liable for any losses resulting from the content of the podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.