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The Government’s new smartphone and tablet app for Budget 2012 was downloaded more than 8,600 times and was New Zealand’s most popular free-download app on Budget day, Finance Minister Bill English says.

The Budget App, called NZ Budget, allows users to read the Budget speech and key Budget documents, watch video coverage and read ministers’ public statements.

COMPETITIVE ECONOMY, SURPLUS AT HEART OF BUDGET

Budget 2012 invests in building an innovative and productive economy that sells more to the world, supports more jobs, and delivers better public services while getting back to fiscal surplus, Finance Minister Bill English says.

“It takes the next steps in the Government’s plan to build sustainable long-term growth based on more exports, higher savings, and more effective investment,” he says.

Builds a platform for growth, while returning to surplus in 2014/15

Budget 2012 sets out a programme of balanced measures to ensure the Government remains on track to return to surplus in 2014/15, Finance Minister Bill English says.

“New Zealand will then be one of the few developed countries not running deficits and increasing debt.

“Getting back to surplus is one of the most important contributions the Government can make to increasing genuine national savings and building a more competitive economy.

Budget 2012 has freed up $4.4 billion to invest in improving frontline public services and getting better results, while running a zero Budget, Finance Minister Bill English says.

“At a time when the Government’s finances are constrained, these savings provide significant funding to put into new initiatives aimed at improving frontline public services and getting better results for New Zealanders,” Mr English says.

“At the same time, they allow the Government to run a zero Budget, ensuring a return to surplus in 2014/15, based on Budget forecasts.

Budget 2012 includes further steps towards an innovative, efficient public sector delivering better results for New Zealanders within tight financial constraints, Finance Minister Bill English says.

“This Government is focused on getting better results, rather than just increasing inputs. It’s time to measure success by better outcomes, rather than by how much extra money we are spending, as was the case for much of the 2000s,” Mr English says.

Schools, health, science and innovation, and transport all benefit in Budget 2012 from the Future Investment Fund set up to invest proceeds from the sale of minority shareholdings in four SOEs and Air New Zealand, Finance Minister Bill English says.

"The Government is committed to investing in modern infrastructure that helps build a faster-growing economy with more exports and more real jobs, without borrowing more from overseas lenders,” Mr English says.

Budget 2012 makes changes that will further improve KiwiSaver and lift investor confidence, Finance Minister Bill English and Commerce Minister Craig Foss say.

The Government will launch a smartphone and tablet app for Budget 2012 on Thursday, providing more ready access to Budget material and helping to reduce the need for printed documents, Finance Minister Bill English says.

“This is a good example of the Government’s focus on delivering better, more innovative, public services,” he says.

“It’s also in line with the Prime Minister’s expectation that New Zealanders will interact increasingly with the Government in a digital environment.”

Budget 2012 will set out balanced decisions to ensure the Government remains on track to surplus in 2014/15, Finance Minister Bill English confirmed today.

In particular, it will address a $1 billion deterioration in the forecast operating balance before gains and losses in 2014/15 between the Budget Policy Statement in February and preliminary Budget estimates.

The Government intends to strengthen the Public Finance Act so there are more checks and balances on ministers’ spending decisions and their long-term effects, Finance Minister Bill English says.

“The fiscal responsibility provisions of the Public Finance Act, which include a high degree of public reporting and transparency, have served New Zealand well in terms of maintaining a focus on low debt since 1994,” Mr English says.

“However, the global recession and events in the years immediately preceding it point to the need for a broader focus.

Good afternoon. Thank you to the Wellington Employers’ Chamber of Commerce for inviting me back to speak to you again this year – it’s a pleasure to be here.

Our ministers value opportunities like this to share ideas about how we can meet the challenges we face as a nation - and how we can grasp the many opportunities we have.

So I look forward to your comments and questions at the end of this session.