Up to 80 per cent of businesses were operating today in one form or another following the lifting of lockdown restrictions.
Around 50,000 businesses remain closed.
“Our website has gone really well over lockdown. However, we do have eight physical stores that have been unable to open so those sales definitely don't make up,” Emily Miller-Sharma from clothing retailer Ruby said.
Times will still be tough for businesses going forward.
“That lack of cash coming in the door but all the money they still have to pay out in terms of staff costs and otherwise, that is hurtings. It’s a money in, money out scenario, and at the moment, that equation just doesn’t add up,” economist Brad Olsen from Infometrics said.
Every day the country remains at Level 3 will cost workers, businesses and the economy dearly, too, with Mr Olsen describing Level 3 as “economic purgatory”.
Retail banks say while they’ve helped thousands of customers with loans and other support, it’s inevitable that some businesses will fail.
“Each month, we'll start to see which industries are doing it tough, which are coming out. What is happening region-by-region will be different,” BNZ chief executive Angela Mentis said.
“We're having honest conversations with them because the responsible and right thing is not more debt."
"The key issue here is how quickly is the economy going to go back to pre-Covid levels? I suspect it's going to be quite some time,” he said.
It’s estimated around 250,000 people will end up out of work.
“You've got to think as well about the reverberations that has on households,” Mr Olsen said.
The economic forecasts continue to be bleak, with BNZ predicting around a nine per cent contraction in the economy, and Westpac suggesting the Official Cash Rate could go into negative territory.
SHARE ME