November 15th, 2024
The New Zealand Government has said that the 2023 Budget, strikes a delicate balance between supporting citizens with the current cost of living pressures and laying the groundwork for a more productive and resilient economy.
Describing it as a "Wellbeing Budget", Finance Minister Grant Robertson stated, "This year’s Budget is about doing the right thing by New Zealanders facing cost of living pressures, but also looking ahead to the economy we need to deliver higher wage jobs with lower emissions."
Robertson noted that the budget was formulated in the wake of challenging circumstances, including heightened inflation and the impact of recent weather events such as cyclones and floods.
“As the Prime Minister has already indicated, the ongoing costs of the recovery will be met within the Budget operating allowance or Multi-year Capital Allowance. This means we have put responding to the cyclone ahead of some of the other areas Ministers would have liked to have focussed on," he said.
Robertson indicated that Ministers were directed to identify savings and reprioritisation opportunities within their existing budgets. As a result, the 2023 Budget will comprise £4 billion of savings and reprioritisations over the forecast period.
Several initiatives have been paused or curtailed to contribute to this saving, including the public media merger, the clean car upgrade, and social leasing schemes. Funding associated with affordable water reforms and COVID programmes that are no longer needed has also been returned.
Robertson further elaborated, “Much of this has already been foreshadowed and includes: closing contingencies that we weren’t convinced were still needed; reassessing the forecast requirements of government departments; and returning as savings underspends from existing initiatives.”
The 2023 Budget, as outlined by Robertson, will focus on four primary themes: supporting New Zealanders with the cost of living; delivering the services New Zealanders rely on; recovery and resilience; and fiscal sustainability.
Emphasising the government's commitment to fiscal prudence, Robertson concluded, "We owe it to New Zealanders as they are carefully considering their spending, and making trade-offs in their lives, that we do the same."