Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 17/12/24

Simply subtract ACC from ABEGAL and add an x for the Christmas miracle of a surplus (but not for a few more years)

Finance Minister Nicola Willis put a brave face on things – aided and abetted by the deft application of accounting cosmetics – after the publication of the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update this afternoon.

Brian Easton: The State Of The Economy - January 2024

The New Zealand economy is struggling; the new government will struggle to implement its economic promises.

There is not a great deal of difference in Treasury’s projected GDP growth patterns between the May 2023 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) and the December 2023 Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU). But there are some other important underlying changes which suggest the incoming government has a tougher task than it expected. (I am skipping the September 2023 pre-election update because there is a lot of noise in the series, and the longer perspective gives a clearer account of any changes.)