Soaring international milk powder prices are giving the New Zealand economy a multi-million dollar boost as it struggles out of recession, the country's biggest exporter announced Monday.

New Zealand's economy will continue a recovery in the second half of this year, helped by the government's fiscal stimulus, Prime Minister John Key told TVNZ.

New Zealand and the six states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have concluded a free trade agreement, Trade Minister Tim Groser announced Monday.

New Zealand's central bank left the nation's key interest rate unchanged at 2.5 percent Thursday, saying signs pointed to growing economic activity.

New Zealand's inflation rate rose an unexpectedly strong 1.3 percent in the September quarter, taking the annual rate to 1.7 percent, new data showed Thursday.

Air New Zealand is threatening to ditch IBM as its main information-technology provider after a massive failure caused its computer system to collapse, delaying up to 10,000 travellers, according to an internal e-mail leaked to the media Monday.

New Zealand showed signs of emerging from recession on Wednesday but officials said growth was so slight it did not mark a definite turning point in the economy.

New Zealand will revise its emissions trading scheme to lower the costs to businesses and households, although the scheme will still cover all sectors and greenhouse gases, the government said on Monday.

New Zealand's recession may be over, but the country's strong currency which has recently surged to a 12-month-high against the U.S. dollar was at odds with its low growth outlook and interest rates, Finance Minister Bill English said Tuesday.

New Zealand's economy may have resumed growing nearly two years after it slid into recession and was then hammered by the global slowdown, Prime Minister John Key said Monday.