New Zealand’s international shortwave broadcaster, Radio New Zealand International [RNZI] has again had its annual budget frozen in the latest government budget for FY 2011-12. This is the third year in a row that RNZI’s budget has been capped at NZ$1.9m but the buying power of the money in US dollars has actually increased by almost 20% because of the stronger New Zealand currency.
The Radio Heritage Foundation reports that the budget is forecast to stay the same in future years through to 2015, “so the good news is that core shortwave services to the Pacific continue to be funded, but the bad news is that increased wages, costs and inflation [around 2-4% in the coming few years] will effectively put greater pressure on the broadcaster.”