After a few years riding the crest of an economic wave, New Zealand has recently seen a downturn in the economy and a resulting dive in the value of the New Zealand dollar. Consequently, most things will seem fairly cheap by European and North American standards. The quality of goods and standards of service you can expect are high and, on balance, the country offers very good value for money, though the instability of exchange rates introduces some uncertainty.
New Zealanders are a straightforward bunch and the price quoted is what you pay. In almost all cases, the 12.5 percent Goods and Service Tax (GST) is included in the listed price, and no tip is expected.
The
currency
is the Kiwi dollar, or "buck", divided into 100 cents. There are $100, $50, $20, $10 and $5 notes made of a sturdy plastic material, and coins in denominations of $2 and $1, and 50¢, 20¢, 10¢ and 5¢; grocery prices are given to the nearest cent, but the final bill is rounded up or down to the nearest five cents.
Some basic costs
New Zealand is well set up for all visitors, but
budget travellers
are especially well catered for, with an extensive network of backpackers' hostels and discounts on travel and the all-too-tempting array of adventure activities that can...
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Travellers' cheques, credit and debit cards
There are
no exchange controls
in New Zealand, so you can bring in as much in cash and travellers' cheques as you like.
The safest way to carry your money is still as
travellers' cheques
, which can be exchanged...
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Banks and exchange
The best
exchange rates
are usually from
banks
- BNZ, ANZ, Westpac, Postbank and The National Bank have branches in towns of any size and are open from Monday to Friday 9.30am to 4.30pm except for public holidays, while some city...
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Emergency cash
If you run out of cash, or there is some kind of emergency, the best way to get money sent out is to get in touch with your bank at home and have them wire money to the nearest bank. This is often time consuming (it may take a week) and inconvenient,...
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