Wellington, Aug 31 NZPA - Seasonal finance is the biggest issue for farmers following the announcement that a significant rural lender South Canterbury Finance (SCF) has gone into receivership, Federated Farmers says.

Wellington, Aug 31 NZPA - Treasury has already paid the South Canterbury Finance trustees $1.6 billion in a taxpayer bail-out of the beleaguered company, which has gone into receivership.

Wellington, Aug 31 NZPA - Receivers have been called in to South Canterbury Finance (SCF), with Trustees Executors Limited appointing Kerryn Downey and William Black of McGrathNicol. SCF today said it has been unable to complete a recapitalisation and restructure.

Wellington, Aug 30 NZPA - South Canterbury Finance is warning "there can be no certainty" recapitalisation and restructuring proposals it has been pursuing will be successfully implemented.

Wellington, Aug 26 NZPA - The New Zealand dollar recovered a tumble to a seven-week low against the greenback as equity markets firmed today. The NZ dollar was at US70.29c at 5pm from US69.86c at 8am and US70.15c at 5pm yesterday.

Wellington, Aug 26 NZPA - Labour will lead the way on increasing savings, opposition finance spokesman David Cunliffe says, but he did not detail how.

Wellington, Aug 25 NZPA - The Labour Party is calling for "bold action" to improve New Zealand's savings rate and says setting up a working group to investigate options won't deliver answers.

By Kate Chapman of NZPA Wellington, Aug 24 NZPA - The savings working group faces what appears to be an insurmountable challenge -- finding a way to convince cash-strapped New Zealanders to put more of their hard earned money into a bank account.

Wellington, Aug 18 NZPA - There is no evidence of a high level of foreign investment in the agricultural sector, KPMG said in a report. The report sees no value in tightening rules for inbound investment and argues there is a lack of equity in the agriculture sector.

Wellington, Aug 17 NZPA - The business sector appears to be gradually warming to the prospect of being involved in compulsory retirement savings schemes.