Government App to be updated for HYEFU

The Government will increase the visibility and accessibility of its Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update tomorrow through its smartphone and tablet App, Finance Minister Bill English says.

This follows the App’s successful launch in May for Budget 2012, which generated more than 10,000 downloads.

“The App is a new and flexible way of contributing to the Government’s goal of interacting with more New Zealanders online, as part of its Better Public Services programme,” Mr English says.

“As we said at the time of the Budget, we want to improve the accessibility of government information. We can do that in an effective and cost-efficient way by using the App.

“Since the Budget, we’ve had feedback that the App is being used widely - including in school classrooms to help young people learn about the economy and how the Government works through an online tool they use every day.

“It is also helping the Government to reduce the amount of paper it uses for major announcements such as Budgets and Half-Year Updates.”

The upgraded App, called NZ Budget, works on Android phones and tablets, iPhones, and iPads. It is available to download free from Apple and Android app stores.

Users will need to upgrade existing versions of the App to access new content from the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update, along with the Government’s Budget Policy Statement for 2013. This material will go live at 12.30pm tomorrow – when the embargo is lifted on the content.

Further information and links will be available from the Treasury’s website www.treasury.govt.nz/budget/app