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Finance Minister Grant Robertson is speaking about his Budget and how it will help grow the economy, at an ANZ lunch in central Wellington.
Robertson on Thursday released Budget 2023, which put $4.8 billion towards tackling rising living costs ahead of the election, with policies for young parents, public transport users, the sick.
Robertson said this Budget – which focussed on easing the cost of living and building back after February’s severe weather events – was harder to put together than those made through the pandemic years.
“The hangover of Covid combined together with some high levels of geopolitical instability working away at increasing inflation significantly … just to make sure we didn’t have enough ingredients to put in the recipe… we have New Zealand’s second largest ever natural disaster,” he said.
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The Government had very little discretionary spending in this year’s Budget. High inflation also made it more expensive for it to deliver services, such as building houses.
“I always say we are buying the same gib as everybody else,” he told the lunch.
DAVID UNWIN/The Post
Finance Minister Grant Robertson delivers the budget to Parliament on Budget day. (File photo)
The Reserve Bank could hike the official cash rate by 50 basis points to 5.75% as part of its ongoing efforts to tame high consumer prices, ANZ chief economist Sharon Zolner predicted, when it makes its next monetary policy statement on Wednesday.
Zolner spoke at a post-Budget lunch in central Wellington, before an address by Robertson
Budget 2023 will leave families with 2-year-olds up to $133.30 better off a week through 20 hours of free childcare from next March, while the $5 prescription fee at pharmacies will be scrapped in July.
Dropping the charge for medicines at pharmacies is set to save about 3 million people a year money, and in particular 770,000 people aged over 65. It will make most prescriptions in New Zealand free.
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