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The cost of doing business, primarily driven by inflation, has become the biggest issue for many of our members over the last 12 to 18 months. 64% of our members rated inflationary pressure and rising interest rates as their top concern in our November Quarterly Canterbury Business Survey, with 36% experiencing significant impacts in their businesses because of it. To understand the future impacts of inflation and rising costs, today we hosted the Reserve Bank Governor, Adrian Orr for lunch with our members. Just a day after the Reserve Bank decided to hold the Official Cash Rate at 5.5%, we appreciated the Governor going into more detail about why not only recent immigration growth, but also geopolitical and climate uncertainty meant they have remained conservative. Given that interest rates are likely to remain high for some time, alongside the first 100 days of the new Government coming to an end – we have today opened our next Quarterly Canterbury Business Survey. We would appreciate your thoughts, as the information and insights we gather from your input in our survey are extremely valuable to us and help inform both our advocacy and our work programme. For further opportunities to engage directly with those in Government who are making decisions, next week on 7 March we will be hosting the new Minister for Regulation, Hon David Seymour for an afternoon session at Business Canterbury. Closer to home, on Monday 25 March we are pulling together a small group of our members to give feedback and shape our messaging as we prepare our submission on the Christchurch City Council and Environment Canterbury Long-Term Plans. With the significant proposed rate rises, it's vital we ensure the business community has a say and that Councils understand the impact and the role that businesses have across both our local economy and within our communities.
Ngā mihi, Leeann Watson | Chief Executive |
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