Businesses Watching Closely As Budget 2025 Nears

With Budget 2025 being released tomorrow, businesses across Canterbury will be watching closely to see what’s on the table. With clear signals from the Government that this year’s budget has been signalled as a tight one, the focus for business will be on how the initiatives, continued or added, can support economic growth and create the right conditions for them to invest and grow.

Business Canterbury will be releasing a response to Budget 2025 by 3:00pm tomorrow, and Leeann Watson will be available for comment following.

On pre-Budget expectations, Business Canterbury Chief Executive Leeann Watson says, "The key area businesses will be looking at is continued investment in infrastructure, careful spending to continue the downward trend in inflation and interest rates, and initiatives that enable and help boost investment in R&D and growth.

"Two key areas are top of mind for our business community, and this starts with the Government having a long-term plan that focuses on infrastructure investment. New Zealand’s infrastructure deficit continues to grow, and here in the South Island, strong connections to ports, airports, and across the supply chain are essential for the connectivity of our exports, imports and people.

"Investment in critical transport links, including the Interislander replacements and roading projects, needs to remain a priority, even in a fiscally constrained environment. When the economy turns a corner, we need the infrastructure in place to support it.

"Our latest Quarterly Canterbury Business Survey results showed increasing confidence, but this optimism hasn’t yet translated into investment. The right policy settings could shift that.

"Targeted business support that enables innovation and investment, especially among SMEs, will be hugely important as we look ahead at a better economy, but with intentions around investment and creating jobs remaining subdued. Practical and efficient support for research and development, such as accelerated depreciation for R&D activities, for example, would give businesses the confidence to invest now in future growth.

About Business Canterbury

Business Canterbury, formerly Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce, is the largest business support agency in the South Island and advocates on behalf of its members for an environment more favourable to innovation, productivity and sustainable growth.

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