Point of Order: Finance Minister has set himself a herculean task in framing an election-winning budget

Finance Minister Grant Robertson may be getting grey hairs as he toils on what his backbench colleagues hope will be an election-winning budget (due for presentation on May 18).

The difficulty is that economic problems are piling up. The cost-of-living crisis is worsening – inflation, although it may have stabilised, remains stubbornly high at 6.7% and NZ’s current account deficit, at $34bn, is threatening the country’s credit rating.

NZCPR Weekly: Modern Socialism

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week, we reveal how Budget 2020 signals a Government ‘reset’ – a radical plan to transform New Zealand into a socialist state, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Dr Bryce Wilkinson explains why Government-led economic recoveries don’t work, and our poll asks whether you feel confident about New Zealand’s economic future.

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Oliver Hartwich: An election year budget

Watching Budget 2020 delivered yesterday was a surreal experience. It was two things at once.

On one hand, the forecasts for economic activity, unemployment and public debt were gruesome. On the other, they appeared way too optimistic.

Take unemployment. It is predicted to peak at 9.6% before neatly falling back to just 4.2% within the space of only two years.

But how realistic is that? Even on the budget’s own assumptions, economic growth will remain negative until June 2022.