New Zealand Business Should Celebrate

Government has given desperate businesses a lifeline by extending the resurgence payment support scheme to help them cover some recurring costs from rents to GST while they cannot operate due to covid restrictions.

“This is great news all round with $430m injected into the NZ economy first up while some desperate businesses will be able to hold on until they can trade their way out of this dire situation,” said Auckland Business Chamber CEO, Michael Barnett, who spearheaded a government petition to seek immediate relief for employers.

Working with other business chambers and associations from around the country, close to 60,000 small and medium enterprises supported a petition to extend the resurgence payment while trading conditions were limited.

“We were hearing stories of utter despair from business,” Mr Barnett said. “We are delighted that Ministers Robertson and Nash gave us such a positive hearing and have backed employers with the promise of two further payments so long as the conditions that trigger the resurgent support payment still apply as a result of being at Alert Level 2 or higher.”

He said the lockdown and restraints on all, but essential business was costing the country billions and the resurgence payments would return some of those lost dollars in earnings and productivity back into the economy.

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