Hon Grant Robertson
Minister of Finance
8 May 2018
PĀNUI PĀPĀHO
MEDIA STATEMENT
The Government’s accounts continued to perform slightly better-than-expected in the nine months to the end of March,
with the surplus $910 million higher than the Treasury forecast in December, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says.
“The financial statements reflect the Coalition Government’s prudent fiscal management and show we are keeping to the
Budget Responsibility Rules requiring us to run sustainable surpluses, cut net debt to 20% of GDP within five years and
for us to spend responsibly in line with previous governments,” Grant Robertson says.
“The Treasury’s financial statements to the end of March show that corporate and income tax has been
stronger-than-expected in recent months. This indicates business profits have been higher than expected and that
employment growth has remained strong. This matches figures last week showing the unemployment rate is now at its lowest
level since December 2008. GST has been buoyed by residential investment and consumption. The Treasury expects this
strength in revenue to continue.
“Core Crown expenses were close to forecast in the nine months to the end of March. The operating balance before gains
and losses was $3.3 billion, $910 million above forecast in December. The surplus is $1.8 billion higher than at the
same time last year.
Core Crown net debt at the end of March was 21.4% of GDP, which was below the 22.2% expected by the Treasury at the Half
Year Economic and Fiscal Update in December 2017.
“These numbers show the Government’s plan to make the responsible investments required for a more productive economy is
on track. We came into Government six months ago with different priorities and fresh ideas for how to make our economy
more productive and shift the drivers of growth away from population increase and housing speculation. We will have more
to say on this plan at Budget 2018 on 17 May.
“We are committed to responsibly managing the Government’s finances so that we can make the investments required to
ensure people have access to doctors and modern hospitals when they need to, that our children receive the best
education in the world that and every New Zealander has a warm, dry place to call home. These critical public services
are the foundations of our economy,” Grant Robertson says.
ends