Hon Bill English
Minister of Finance

25 June 2009
Media Statement

Government welcomes Budget papers release

Finance Minister Bill English has welcomed Treasury’s release of official papers and advice from Budget 2009.

"The release of these papers shows the challenges the Government faced in putting together a Budget in the toughest global economic conditions since the 1930s. These challenges required us to consider a wide range of options.

"We believe we struck the right balance and put New Zealand on the road to recovery,” Mr English says.

"Continuing with the rampant growth in spending by the previous Government would have seen debt rapidly spiral out of control.

"We asked officials to put the full range of options on the table, consistent with our intention to seek free and frank advice.

"Many of these options were disregarded because of the effect they would have had on the most vulnerable during a recession. Others were discarded because they would have pushed government debt too high, burdening future generations and risking a downgrade from credit ratings agencies.

"In Budget 2009, we managed to maintain public services and entitlements, support jobs, control government debt and put in place measures that will help boost productivity and sharpen our economic performance in the years to come.

"Next year's Budget will be a similar balancing act, but we are determined we will take New Zealand further down the road to recovery."

The Budget papers are available at:

http://www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/informationreleases/budget/2009

ENDS

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