The impact of the earthquake on New Zealand’s economy has already been felt, with our dollar falling to 74c against the greenback at the close of trading on Thursday.

Some commentators are saying we may not have seen the worst of things, with potential for our dollar to fall even further.

ANZ National bank economist Khoon Goh says even with Fonterra’s payout announcement boosting our economy, it wasn’t enough to prevent a dramatic slide.

"With the severity of the earthquake we think this has the potential for the New Zealand dollar to fall further.

"It has fallen quite a long way since the earthquake occurred, it's sitting at a very vulnerable level at present.

"But overall in the near time I think there is still scope to fall further."

Mr Goh says if there isn’t a strong response from New Zealand business to the quake, we may only be at the edge of a more substantial economic fall.