Half-Year Update to be issued on 18 December

The Government will issue its Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update and Budget Policy Statement on 18 December, Finance Minister Bill English announced today.

“It will update the Budget’s economic and fiscal forecasts, and we will set out the Government’s wider economic programme in the accompanying Budget Policy Statement,” he says.

“The Government is focused on its target of getting back to surplus in 2014/15 and building a more competitive and productive economy so we can support new jobs and increase incomes.

“We have supported the economy through the recession and its aftermath by running large deficits and increasing the Crown’s net debt to more than $50 billion.

“But this stimulus is expensive, which is why we’ve set out a balanced programme of curbing new spending, returning to surplus and getting debt under control,” Mr English says.

“That’s essential in a world where economic and financial market conditions remain difficult and unpredictable. We need to remain on top of the factors we can control, so we can minimise our debt and have a strong balance sheet.

“This will be a long-term process and will continue beyond when we return to surplus, because we will then have to make choices about increasing investment in priority public services, resuming contributions to the New Zealand Super Fund and repaying debt.”