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Bernard Hickey details the key news overnight in 90 seconds at 9am in association with BNZ, including news that Barack Obama is planning a three year freeze on US government spending, but many areas are exempted, including Defence and Homeland Security . Just 12% of the US$3.5 trillion Federal budget is covered.

Meanwhile, China is rapidly slowing lending. ICBC bank has told Beijing branches to stop lending for the rest of January, the WSJ reported. Citic has also suspended lending in Shanghai. This is concerning Asian markets and is a factor for commodity supplier Australia, which is our largest trading partner.

Meanwhile, New Zealand's Treasury and the Ministry of Economic Development has asked for tenders to outsource many administrative functions of central government, including finance, HR and Information Technology. This could help the government reduce spending.

Gareth Vaughan of Fairfax's Stuff is reporting that Auckland International Airport is expected to announce plans later today to raise NZ$100 million through a share issue to help pay for its purchase of a stake in two North Queensland airports. Its shares were halted this morning.