Kiwi businesses shaved one day off the time taken to settle their accounts in the March quarter, providing evidence the local economy is on the path to recovery.

Listed firms are taking longer to pay their bills, according to the latest Dun & Bradstreet survey.

Consumers will be tucking their credit cards away in the lead up to the Christmas holidays.

Wellington-based firms remain the slowest in the country to pay their bills but the entire country is slipping back in its payment times, according to Dun & Bradstreet.

The latest business-to-business trade payment figures released by the credit report agency show that the average time taken to pay bills had slipped by two days in the March quarter to 46.6 days.

The amount of business-to-business debts sent on to debt collectors has more than doubled year-on-year, and their dollar value has increased.

A report out today from Dun & Bradstreet shows almost 44,000 firms are now more likely to stall on paying their trade accounts, with business-to-business payment days close to three weeks above the standard term (48.4 days).

With cashflow issues prevalent in the economy, D & B’s research confirms the downturn is likely to be prolonged and difficult for many firms as cashflow tightens further in coming months.

Newer companies, the services sector and North Island firms topped the ranks of downgrades by credit reporting agency Dun & Bradstreet over the 15 months since January 2008.