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Cameron Burnell / Stuff
Finance Minister Grant Robertson.
Labor Party finance spokesman Grant Robertson says he has found a $ 4 billion hole in the National Party’s fiscal and economic plan for the next decade, which was released on Friday.
National Party Finance spokesman Paul Goldsmith was contacted for comment.
National’s plan, which included curbing spending and a large temporary tax cut, also planned to suspend contributions to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund as a way to free up money and pay off debt faster.
It is the accounting for this change that seems to have stumbled the party. Instead of using the figures from last week’s Pre-election Fiscal and Economic Update (PREFU), it used the figures from the May Budget (Fiscal and Economic Update of the Budget).
The Treasury revised downward projections for the size of retirement fund contributions over the next decade last week from $ 19.1 billion to $ 14.8 billion, leaving a deficit of $ 4.3 billion.
The Labor Party figures have been verified by the economic consultancy Infometrics.
The change would not affect the temporary tax cuts proposed by the National Party, which are being paid for by withdrawing $ 4.9 billion of the $ 14 billion that Robertson had set aside from the Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund for future Covid policies, if necessary.
Instead, it would affect the bottom line of money available to National’s ongoing spending plans.
More to come …
