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The Government’s sound policies are building a faster-growing economy, with annual growth moving ahead of Australia and supporting more jobs and higher incomes, Finance Minister Bill English says.

Statistics New Zealand today reported gross domestic product expanded by 1.4 per cent in the September quarter, the largest quarterly increase since December 2009.

This took annual growth – from the September quarter 2012 to the September quarter 2013 - to 3.5 per cent. Average annual growth was 2.6 per cent.

The Government’s programme to build a faster-growing economy with more jobs and rising incomes is delivering positive results, Finance Minister Bill English says.

The Opposition will be disappointed by the provisional result of the share offer referendum in which less than 30 per cent of eligible voters turned out to oppose the Government’s share sales programme, Finance Minister Bill English says.

With a turnout of 44 per cent of eligible voters, 67 per cent voted to oppose the share sales and 32.5 per cent voted in favour of them.

A combination of slightly higher than expected revenue and lower than forecast spending left the Government’s operating deficit before gains and losses almost $400 million smaller than expected at $1.75 billion in the four months to 31 October.

“The result continues a trend over the past year of the Government’s fiscal results exceeding forecasts, as we remain on track to return to surplus in 2014/15,” Finance Minister Bill English says.

The managed wind-down of Learning Media has been completed, Finance Minister Bill English and Education Minister Hekia Parata say.

“The Learning Media board has managed the wind down in a way that provided certainty of provision for publications such as the School Journal, as well as ensuring staff were treated fairly,” Mr English says.

The Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update this month will revise the estimated range of proceeds from the Government’s share offer programme to $4.6 billion - $5 billion, Finance Minister Bill English says.

“The revised assumption of share sale proceeds is based on Solid Energy clearly being in no position to be sold anytime soon, and it takes account of other developments and the results of share offers to date,” he told Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee today.

New Zealand will be among the strongest developed economies in the world over the next few years, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s latest annual Economic Outlook published overnight.

The OECD is forecasting annual economic growth in New Zealand of 2.4 per cent and 3.6 per cent over the next two calendar years, and for the current account deficit to narrow to less than 4 per cent of gross domestic product.

The Government’s comprehensive Business Growth Agenda is helping New Zealand build a productive and competitive economy to deliver more jobs and higher growth for people around New Zealand, Finance Minister Bill English and Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce say.

New Zealand has been ranked 4th in the 2013 Global Open Data Barometer, released in London by the World Wide Web Foundation and Open Data Institute.

“This is a real coup for New Zealand.  The Barometer is the first survey of global trends which ranks 77 countries on how they release their public data and the benefits those initiatives have for citizens and the economy,” says Mr English. 

The Government’s Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update will be issued on Tuesday, 17 December, Finance Minister Bill English announced today.

“The Government is aiming to return to surplus in 2014/15 and we are seeing good momentum building in the economy,” he says.

“Over the past five years, the Government’s economic programme has ensured the most vulnerable New Zealanders have been protected, while at the same time building a more productive and competitive economy capable of providing more jobs and higher incomes.

Treasury advice shows that the so-called “living wage” is not well targeted to help low-income families and, if implemented, would be likely to cost jobs and be unlikely to lift average wage rates, Finance Minister Bill English says.

The Government’s economic programme is focused on increasing incomes and supporting more jobs and the best way to achieve that is through a growing and more competitive economy, Mr English says.

Lower income households are paying a smaller proportion of net income tax than they did in 2008, indicating that the tax system has become more progressive since the Government’s tax changes in 2010, Finance Minister Bill English says.

“This should contribute to improvements in income equality in New Zealand, contrary to the Opposition’s completely false claims that lower income households were disadvantaged by the tax changes,” he says.

The National State of Infrastructure Report published today shows the benefits of the Government’s commitment to major infrastructure projects New Zealand needs to build a competitive and productive economy, Finance Minister Bill English says.

This is the second annual progress report prepared by the National Infrastructure Unit within the Treasury.

A number of ongoing global risks reinforce the need for New Zealand to continue improving its own economic resilience and competitiveness, Finance Minister Bill English says.

It can do that by returning to budget surplus and addressing potential threats to financial stability such as housing affordability, he told the Institute of Finance Professionals New Zealand (INFINZ) annual conference in Auckland today.

KiwiSaver default providers will retain the conservative investment approach because that is the most appropriate choice when the Government is taking decisions about other people’s private savings, Finance Minister Bill English and Commerce Minister Craig Foss say.

The ministers today announced a raft of decisions about KiwiSaver default provider arrangements following a comprehensive review which was agreed when KiwiSaver was launched in 2007.

Finance Minister Bill English today congratulated the New Zealand Superannuation Fund on achieving its tenth anniversary, and having built a world-class sovereign wealth fund in that time.

The New Zealand Superannuation Fund, which invests to assist in meeting some of the long-term cost of New Zealand Superannuation, started in 2003 with $2.5 billion in cash. Since then it has returned an average of 8.84 per cent per annum and the fund now stands at $23 billion.

The first ever snapshot of central government spending by region shows that taxpayers’ dollars are being evenly distributed across New Zealand.

Higher tax revenue and lower than forecast core Crown expenses helped to more than halve the Government’s operating deficit before gains and losses to $4.4 billion in the year to 30 June 2013, compared with a $9.2 billion deficit the previous year.

The result was considerably better than the $7.9 billion deficit forecast by Treasury at the start of the financial year in Budget 2012, and confirms the Government’s prudent approach to fiscal management is paying dividends, Finance Minister Bill English says.

Finance Minister Bill English leaves on Monday for the United States, where he will attend the annual meetings of International Monetary Fund and World Bank governors in Washington DC.

He will also meet senior representatives of credit ratings agencies and the New York Stock Exchange in New York and speak with investment and business leaders in Boston.

“The meetings will provide another opportunity to assess latest global economic developments and their likely impact on New Zealand,” Mr English says.

The Government has today tabled in Parliament the Reserve Bank’s review of the prudential regime for non-bank deposit takers, Finance Minister Bill English says.

The review, which was required after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Amendment Bill (No 3) was enacted in 2008, considers whether any changes should be made to the Act as it relates to non-bank deposit takers.

“The review makes a number of recommendations and the Government will consider them over the next few months,” Mr English says.

A proposal to financially restructure Solid Energy has been agreed between the Crown, the company and key lenders, Finance Minister Bill English and Minister for State Owned Enterprises Tony Ryall say.

“As we have said previously, ministers were not prepared to expose taxpayers to on-going losses if Solid Energy’s core business was not considered viable,” Mr English says.

Associate Minister of Finance Jonathan Coleman and Commerce Minister Craig Foss welcome the signing of the Asia Region Funds Passport Statement of Intent at the APEC Finance Ministers meeting.

“The Asia Region Funds Passport is an excellent initiative that will provide real benefits to New Zealand and other countries in the region,” says Dr Coleman.

New Zealand’s economy continues to grow steadily, maintaining one of the higher annual growth rates in the OECD, Finance Minister Bill English says.

As expected, the severe drought earlier this year slowed economic growth in the June quarter, with statistics out today showing gross domestic product grew 0.2 per cent in the three months to June 30.

Associate Minister of Finance Jonathan Coleman is attending this week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) annual meeting of Finance Ministers.

“It is important that APEC Finance Ministers come together to discuss the key economic development issues facing the Asia-Pacific region,” says Dr Coleman.

"New Zealand actively engages with our regional partners. APEC provides a crucial forum where nations can discuss issues, share new ideas and build common approaches.