Welcome to Today in Business - Powered by Spark for Business, an experimental AI podcast by the New Zealand Herald. Each weekday, we bring you five stories, the best of the New Zealand Herald business journalism, summarised and delivered by an AI voice as an easily digestible recap. It's Thursday, October 16, 2025, and here are five stories you should know about. The Reserve Bank's released new research rejecting claims its 55 billion dollar Large-Scale Asset Purchase programme drove post Covid inflation or cost the Government billions. The modelling found inflation would have been only 0.5 percentage points lower in 2020-21 without the scheme, and similar afterwards. Chief economist Paul Conway says the programme mainly lowered long-term interest rates and kept the New Zealand dollar down, helping exporters. The LSAP cost the Crown about $11 billion but also delivered offsetting benefits through higher tax revenue and lower borrowing costs. Conway says LSAPs remain a tool for targeted use alongside the Official Cash Rate. In other news, a global airport group reports New Zealand's domestic airfares have risen 63 percent in six years, the fastest in the world. The Airports Council International says inflation and airline competition, not airport charges, drove the rise. Air New Zealand says its domestic fares increased 35 percent as costs jumped more than 40 percent since 2019. Board of Airline Representatives director Cath O'Brien says New Zealand's geography and user-pays system make operations costly. Last week, the Commerce Commission declined to review airport regulation. Air New Zealand's chief executive Greg Foran has called for stronger oversight of airport spending. Turning to household costs, food prices rose 4.1 percent in the year to September, the smallest annual increase since April 2025, according to Stats NZ. Monthly, food prices fell 0.4 percent - the first drop since February 2025. Grocery items led the annual rise, up 3.9 percent, while milk, cheese, and beef mince showed the sharpest increases. Fruit and vegetables fell 2.5 percent monthly. Electricity was up 11.6 percent annually and gas 17 percent. Stats NZ's Nicola Growden says all five food groups still rose annually, but at a slower rate. Domestic airfares increased 2.1 percent annually and 11 percent monthly during the school holidays. Deal website GrabOne has stopped trading after its owner, Global Marketplace New Zealand, went into liquidation. Calibre Partners' Daniel Stoneman and Neale Jackson were appointed liquidators and say funding constraints forced the immediate closure. The website now shows a notice confirming no further deals or refunds will be processed, advising customers to contact merchants about unredeemed vouchers. GrabOne was founded in 2010 and sold by NZME in 2021 for $17.5 million. Retail expert Chris Wilkinson says the group-buying model became outdated as online retail evolved. He describes it as a legacy digital marketing format once popular with small businesses. Finally, in property news, Precinct Properties has appointed builder, Icon, to construct a 201 million dollar, 32-level student accommodation tower at 256 Queen Street, Auckland. The 638-unit building will be part of Precinct's $3.7 billion development pipeline. Icon's Dan Bosher says contracts are signed, with site possession from November 3. Precinct launched a $310 million equity raise to fund the project and repay debt. The tower will feature studio rooms with kitchens and bathrooms, designed by Ashton Mitchell, who says it retains the historic façade of the former Auckland Savings Bank building. The project adds 638 beds to Precinct's student housing portfolio. That was Today in Business - Powered by Spark for Business - your NZ Herald daily business summary. For the best in business, subscribe to Herald Premium at nzherald.co.nz.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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