Auckland Chamber of Commerce chief executive Michael Barnett told Checkpoint it is particularly small to medium size businesses that are hurting the most in the lockdown since the Delta outbreak.
Barnett said government books do not often take into account smaller sized businesses when they're looking at a broad picture of the economy.
"It's the small end of town that are really being punished by not being able to operate.
"The decision from government is whether they look at the small to medium sized business sector and support it, and to what degree they'll do that."
Barnett said uncertainty is the most damaging thing to businesses.
"They can't see a plan, they can't see a finish line, and that's frustrating for them because if there is no plan for the environment in which they're going to operate in, they can't make a plan for what they're going to do."
He said, without a big picture plan, there needs to be a degree of certainty about support in the interim.
"I say that because these businesses aren't just businesses; they're people, they're homes, they're mortgages, they're the dreams that people have had and just to be able to let them go I don't believe is a reasonable ask.
"The real cost of not supporting businesses, and the big one in my opinion, is the people cost - the damage that you do to relationships, the damage that you do to our innovators, our creators... I think the people cost is extremely high.
"The reality is that if some businesses go, other businesses will follow. That's the nature of it."
