Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 results.

New Zealand’s first social bond will aim to empower people with mental illness and support their families, Finance Minister Bill English and Health Minister Jonathan Coleman say.

Social bonds, in which the return for investors will be partially determined by whether or not agreed social targets have been achieved, will become another tool in the Government’s social investment approach that is aiming to improve the lives and prospects of the most vulnerable New Zealanders.

  • Jonathan Coleman
  • Bill English
  • Health
  • Finance
  • Budget 2015

People enrolling in KiwiSaver from 2pm today will no longer receive a $1,000 kick-start payment, Finance Minister Bill English says. The change does not affect existing KiwiSaver members.

“KiwiSaver has been successful in attracting members, with 2.5 million New Zealanders having a KiwiSaver account and together receiving $2.5 billion in kick-start payments since the scheme started in 2007,” Mr English says.

  • Bill English
  • Finance
  • Budget 2015

Proceeds from the Government’s share offer programme provide a further $939 million of new capital investment in Budget 2015 without the need to borrow more from overseas lenders, Finance Minister Bill English says.

“The share sale proceeds provided $4.7 billion to the Future Investment Fund for spending on new public assets without having to borrow,” Mr English says.

  • Bill English
  • Finance
  • Budget 2015

The Crown’s books are in good shape and on track to surplus as the Government maintains its careful and responsible management of public spending, Finance Minister Bill English says.

“We’re making good progress on the Government’s fiscal priorities and the outlook is positive,” Mr English says.

The Treasury is predicting solid growth, growing employment and real wage increases. However, lower inflation means tax revenue is not rising as quickly as expected.

  • Bill English
  • Finance
  • Budget 2015

Budget 2015 delivers careful management of public spending, hand in hand with investment in public services.

(All figures for four years to 2018/19 unless otherwise stated).

  • Bill English
  • Finance
  • Budget 2015

Mr Speaker,

I move that the Appropriation (2015/16 Estimates) Bill be now read a second time.

It’s a privilege to present the National-led Government’s seventh Budget.

New Zealand has come through significant challenges and is now a more confident and resilient country than it was seven years ago.

Successive Budgets have sought to put New Zealand on a track to surplus and debt reduction, and as a result the Government’s books are in good shape.

  • Bill English
  • Finance
  • Budget 2015

A package of measures aimed at reducing hardship among children in New Zealand’s lowest-income households is at the heart of new spending announced in the Budget today, Finance Minister Bill English says.

The package, costing $790 million over four years, includes increased work obligations for sole parents on a benefit, more childcare support for low-income families, a $25 a week increase in benefit rates for families with children, and an increase in Working for Families payments to low-income families not on a benefit.

  • Bill English
  • Finance
  • Budget 2015

Budget 2015 includes a $790 million package to reduce hardship among children in New Zealand’s poorest families, as the next step in the Government’s commitment to address the long-term drivers of deprivation.

The package includes increased work obligations for sole parents on a benefit, more childcare support for low-income families, a $25 a week increase in benefit rates for families with children, and an increase in Working for Families payments to low-income families not on a benefit, Finance Minister Bill English and Social Development Minister Anne Tolley say.

  • Bill English
  • Anne Tolley
  • Finance
  • Budget 2015
  • Social Development

The Government is taking extra steps to bolster the tax rules on property transactions – including those by overseas buyers - and to help Inland Revenue enforce them, Finance Minister Bill English and Revenue Minister Todd McClay say.

The tax measures are also expected to take some of the heat out of Auckland’s housing market and sit alongside the Reserve Bank’s latest moves to address associated financial stability issues, Mr English says.

  • Bill English
  • Todd McClay
  • Finance
  • Revenue
  • Budget 2015

Good afternoon everyone. It’s a pleasure to be with you again this year.

Thank you to the Wellington Employers’ Chamber of Commerce for once again organising this pre-Budget lunch.

I also want to acknowledge the Chamber’s work in promoting the Wellington business community and in advocating policy to enable businesses in the capital to invest, employ and grow.

The Budget on 21st May will set out in detail the Treasury’s revised economic and fiscal forecasts as well as the Government’s decisions around new spending.

  • Bill English
  • Finance
  • Budget 2015

On 21 May, Finance Minister Bill English delivered the National-led Government’s seventh Budget.

  • Bill English
  • Prime Minister
  • Budget 2015
  • Finance

Budget 2015 will be presented on Thursday, 21 May, Finance Minister Bill English said today.

“This will be the National-led Government’s seventh Budget and our ongoing commitment to spending restraint means the public finances continue to improve significantly each year.

“Since we were first elected in 2008, we have seen the economy move from a recession to sustained growth, and New Zealanders are now being assisted by low unemployment, stable low interest rates and wages that are growing faster than inflation.

  • Bill English
  • Finance
  • Budget 2015