New Zealand Pledges to Cut Spending, Achieve Budget Surplus
- Government wants to eliminate deficit even as economy cools
- Finance Minister says cost reviews are not austerity program
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New Zealand’s government is pledging to cut spending and return the budget to surplus even as economic growth slows and it faces the extra cost of paying for tax cuts from the middle of next year.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis outlined NZ$7.5 billion ($4.7 billion) of new revenue initiatives and spending cuts over the next five years in a mini-budget released Wednesday in Wellington. At the same time, the Treasury Department published its half-year economic and fiscal outlook showing the budget will return to surplus in 2027, the same year as its previous projection.