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Only 0.01 percent of New Zealand's 430 million hectare marine economic estate is currently being farmed, the boss of NZ King Salmon says. Photo: Supplied / Emilee Benjamin Leaders in New Zealand's aquaculture sector say the industry's growth has been constrained by bureaucracy and a lack of access to the country's marine estate - as it works toward the government's goal of reaching $3 billion in annual sales in the next decade. At the Aquaculture New Zealand conference in Nelson on Wednesday, NZ King Salmon chief executive Carl Carrington said the opportunity to grow the aquaculture industry was huge, with only 0.01 percent of New Zealand's 430 million hectare marine economic estate currently being farmed. "As a nation, we have made it incredibly difficult to gain access to farm the sea...

Photo: RNZ RBNZ bows to pressure and makes big cash rate cut RBNZ says was a toss up between 25 and 50 basis point cut Economy weak and subdued because of high rates RBNZ gives little away on the next move, but another 50 bps expected in November Analysis - Over the decades the Reserve Bank has been keen to emphasise its independence and remind financial markets and the economic chattering classes that it's in control. But its latest decision to slash the OCR by 50 basis points to an 18-month low of 4.75 percent has all the hallmarks of bending with the prevailing wind, which had been gathering hurricane force in the past week. The short statement and summary of the meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) said the double sized cut was justified by the subdued and weak econom...

File pic Photo: 123RF The Reserve Bank's decision to cut the official cash rate by 50 basis points, to 4.75 percent, will help the property market, but house prices may still only increase slowly from here. Chief economist at property data firm CoreLogic, Kelvin Davidson, said the key point for the housing market was the home loan interest rates were likely to continue to drop. "This could easily produce a short-term lift in confidence and a more active housing market as we hit the normal spring uplift anyway." But he said while house prices might stop falling in the near future, there were reasons why an upward surge was not likely. Housing affordability was still stretched and there were a lot of listings to choose from, he said. "But perhaps the most important restraint right now is ...