Friday 11 March 2005

Dr Peter Bushnell Deputy Secretary to the Treasury

Financial Statements Of The Government For The Seven Months Ended 31 January 2005

The Financial Statements of the Government of New Zealand for the seven months ended 31 January 2005 were released by the Treasury today. These financial statements provide a snap-shot of progress towards the long term fiscal objectives of the Government and the performance against the latest set of fiscal forecasts released in the December Economic and Fiscal Update on 14 December 2004.

$ million January January 2005 2005 Variance June 2005 June 2004 Actual YTD Forecast YTD $m Forecast Actual Net cash flow from core operating and investing activity 1,775 1,759 16 1,436 520 Gross sovereign-issued debt 37,035 36,581 454 33,846 35,527 % of GDP 25.8 25.5 0.3 22.5 25.3 Net core Crown debt 13,059 13,462 (403) 13,065 15,204 % of GDP 9.1 9.4 (0.3) 9.1 10.6 Total Crown debt 38,505 38,254 251 36,093 36,825 Operating balance 5,273 4,163 1,110 5,627 7,424 OBERAC 4,897 4,163 734 6,467 6,629 Net worth 40,739 39,626 1,113 41,109 35,463

Net Cash flow from core operating and investing activity was $1.8 billion. This results from cashflow from operating activity of $4.3 billion being utilised to fund investing activity of $2.5 billion. Cash flows from operating activity of $4.3 billion results from:

• cash receipts of $28.5 billion (including tax receipts of $27.1 billion);

• operating and finance payments of $15.9 billion; and

• subsidies and transfer payments of $8.3 billion (e.g. NZ Superannuation and Unemployment benefit). The cash flow from operating activity was used to:

• make contributions to the NZS Fund of $1.2 billion (for partially funding future NZS Fund payments; 2

• purchase physical assets of $0.8 billion (e.g. prisons and schools); and

• fund other net investing activity of $0.5 billion (including hospitals, housing and student loans). The net cash flow from operating and investing activity of $1.8 billion is on track to meet the full year forecast of $1.4 billion, which is planned to help fund the government’s borrowing programme over the next two years.

Gross sovereign-issued debt (GSID) was $37 billion (25.8% of GDP), which was higher than forecast by around $450 million due largely to the phasing of the monthly forecast tracks which is expected to unwind by year end and is net debt neutral.

Net core crown debt (excluding GSF and NZSF financial assets) was $13.1 billion (around $400 million lower than forecast) primarily due to additional issues of circulating currency and foreign exchange movements (both of which are not forecast as a matter of policy).

The operating balance was $5,273 million, which was $1,110 million ahead of forecast due to:

• Investment income being higher-than-forecast by around $500 million due to investment gains by the GSF, NZS Fund and ACC on their financial assets portfolios with an appreciation in global equity markets;

• State owned enterprises surpluses were higher than forecasts by around $200 million, spread over a number of entities including NZ Post (mainly due to gain on sale of Express Couriers to DHL) and Transpower (mainly due to gains on cross border leases);

• Core Crown expenses being lower-than-forecast by $270 million, primarily due to spending delays, which are expected to reverse by year end.

The OBERAC was $4,897 million ($734 million ahead of forecast), primarily due to the variances in the operating balance (mentioned above) excluding the investment valuation gains. The improvement in the operating balance and OBERAC do not have flow on effects to cashflows as the investment valuations gains are held within entities to use for their intended long term purpose (e.g. Accident claims and partial funding of future superannuation costs).

ENDS

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