Finance Minister Grant Robertson has handed down his fifth budget, unveiling bumper spending to reform New Zealand's health system and increase welfare.
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* Deficit - $NZ19 billion
The budget spend-up means New Zealand's books are staying in the red for a third straight year. The deficit is forecast at $NZ6.6 billion in 2023 and $NZ2.6 billion in 2024 before a projected $NZ2.6 billion surplus in 2025.
* GDP growth is still on a rocky road
Treasury say New Zealand's economy has recovered to outstrip pre-pandemic growth predictions. GDP will grow at 1.7 per cent this year and 4.2 per cent in 2023 but drop to 0.7 per cent in 2024.
* Inflation is as bad as its going to get
Headline inflation is at 6.9 per cent, and is forecast to drop to 6.7 mid-year and to 5.2 in 2023. CPI inflation will return to the Reserve Bank's target band in 2025.
* Unemployment is staying low
NZ's record jobless figure, at 3.0 per cent, is tipped to remain low through to 2023 at 3.3, and stay below 4.8 per cent over the next five years.
* Debt remains a Kiwi strength
Projections of a COVID-19 debt blowout have not come to pass. Crown debt this year is $NZ61.2 billion, or 16.9 per cent of GDP. This will peak in 2024, at $NZ83.6 billion, or 19.9 per cent.
* The house price boom is over
Kiwi house prices grew roughly 40 per cent from the start of the pandemic to the peak at the end of 2021. Treasury forecasts they will fall five per cent in 2022 and 1.5 per cent in 2023.
Australian Associated Press
