Kiwi firms paying bills faster

The amount of time companies are taking to pay bills is improving and is nearly at pre-crisis levels, Dun and Bradstreet said.

A fall of 1.4 days since the previous quarter and 6.5 days in the past nine months has reduced business-to-business payment terms to 44.3 days, a level just days above pre-crisis terms.

This is still above the standard 30-day term for payments but it is the lowest since the third quarter of 2007.

The data provided a clear indication that the New Zealand business environment was improving, Dun and Bradstreet's New Zealand general manager John Scott said.

The number of payment days began rising during the September quarter of 2007 when the credit crisis first hit and continued on a relatively steady upward trajectory for around 18 months.

The data has now improved for three consecutive quarters.

NZPA