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Finance Minister Grant Robertson established his budget “Rebuilding Together” in the context of the Covid-19 crisis, saying the focus is on saving and creating jobs. National says the government lacks a clear plan for the economy.
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This year’s budget focuses primarily on the recovery of Covid-19.
Source: 1 NEWS
This concludes our live coverage of the quote announcement.
Follow continuous coverage and analysis on 1News.co.nz and 1 NEWS at 6pm on TVNZ 1.
The main points of today’s budget summarized:
$ 50 billion from Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund, $ 30 billion allocated so far
Selective wage subsidy extension of $ 3.2 billion for eight weeks, but companies must show 50% drop in revenue now
$ 1.4 billion for trades and apprenticeship training
$ 1.1 billion for the environmental jobs scheme
$ 3 billion for infrastructure projects
$ 400 million tourism recovery fund
8000 for new public and transition homes
4.26pm: The prime minister says the government will work with the tourism industry to revive the sector using the $ 400 million it has allocated today.
16:22: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is now answering media questions about the Budget. She says the wage subsidy “has played an incredibly important role in saving jobs.”
4.09pm: Winston Peters says he doesn’t believe in “helicopter payments,” which give everyone a cash boost, he believes in “investment strategies.”
15:50: ASB economist Chris Tennent-Brown says that debt that increases from 20% to 50% of GDP as a result of the crisis is clearly significant, but it will be small compared to the economies of the United States and Europe. However, he wants to see a more comprehensive plan for the future.
15:45 h: The $ 3.2 billion increase in the budget to the wage subsidy scheme pays an additional eight weeks for companies that have lost at least half of their income, bringing the total allocated to the scheme to $ 13.9 billion.
3.43pm: The second year at no cost to tertiary education students, due to be next year, is now on hold, says Education Minister Chris Hipkins.
3.42pm: Some other numbers from today’s Budget:
$ 1 billion to replace the former Defense Force Hercules fleet
$ 20 million for college students in financial difficulties due to the Covid-19 crisis
New Zealand Post receives $ 280 million
3.37pm: Children’s Commissioner Andrew Becroft says the Budget is a realistic response to the crisis, but it is insufficient, especially for the 150,000 children who were already struggling before the pandemic.
“Covid-19 has shed light on the blatant deficiencies in our wellness system that we already knew existed for a long time.” You want to see a “child-centered budget later in the year,” which includes free medical and dental care plus a free, nutritious school lunch for all children up to age 18.
3.30pm: Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters’ advice to Mr. Bridges in Parliament: “On the first day of Level 2, cut your hair and get a suitable job.”
3.21pm: The prime minister says the Budget will create 140,000 jobs over the next year, including environmental and rural jobs, and rebuilding “ruined infrastructure” jobs, as well as training for new jobs. She says the money for tourism jobs announced today will be followed by announcements in the coming days for the arts, sports and big events sectors.
“We went hard and early to beat Covid-19, now is the time to make the most of the initial advantage New Zealand has with our economic recovery,” says Ardern.
3.11pm: The opposition traditionally moves a vote of no confidence in the budget. Simon Bridges did not do this, which the Prime Minister has commented on and said he hopes this means that National will vote in favor. Deputy National Director Paula Bennett says in a tweet that Bridges did not forget to move the motion, he chose not to do so in exceptional circumstances.
3.10pm: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says there is nothing usual this time around, so the answer shouldn’t be either. We will apply the same relentless approach that we have had in our health response to our economic response and that has already begun. “He said jobs were a focus and the wage subsidy scheme has prevented an increase in unemployment.
2.58pm: The Finance Minister says the Budget is about jobs and training.
He says there will be more to say about supporting lower-paid New Zealanders, but he says there has already been a boost to benefits and points to additional sums for food in schools in the Budget.
There are no tax changes in the Budget because that is not the focus at the moment, Robertson tells TVNZ.
The currently unallocated $ 20 billion is there because “no one in the world yet knows where or when Covid-19 ends.”
2.51pm: Bridges says he supports backing commercial and wage subsidies in the Budget, but not “favorite projects.” It questions the $ 400 million for tourism but $ 1.2 billion for the railroad.
14:46: National leader Simon Bridges is now responding to Mr. Robertson, saying that tens of thousands of kiwis have already lost their jobs and similar numbers have had to close their businesses due to Covid-19. He says much of the response from the past eight weeks has gone well, but just having a low number of cases is not a success given the economic situation. “Our closure has been excessively harsh,” he says. A thousand people a day join the queue for the unemployed, he says. “We have become weak and slow in the economy.”
2.44pm: Finance Minister Grant Robertson concludes his Budget speech to applaud on the government side by saying New Zealand will rebuild with “hard work, compassion and courage.”
2.38pm: GDP is forecast to take a major hit, contracting 4.6%, with a year of recession expected.
2.35pm: Law leader David Seymour says the budget is “sadly predictable” and lacks imagination without enough support for the private sector to increase jobs. Public health and smart borders are also lacking, he says. he calls the transitional house fund “Kiwibuild 2”.
2.30pm: No increase in profits is noticeable in the Budget, says political scientist Prof Jennifer Curtin of the University of Auckland.
2.26pm: A reminder of the main points:
$ 50 billion from Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund, $ 30 billion allocated so far
Selective wage subsidy extension of $ 3.2 billion for eight weeks, but companies must show 50% drop in revenue now
$ 1.4 billion for trades and apprenticeship training
$ 1.1 billion for the environmental jobs scheme
$ 3 billion for infrastructure projects
$ 400 million tourist recovery fund
8000 for new public and transition homes
$ 32 million for food banks
2.25pm: National says it would have done more on business than the government has announced. He says there is “very little there” for job creation. “How do we stop the pain and restore our prospects as a nation, and I don’t see much of a plan there,” National finance spokesman Paul Goldsmith told TVNZ.
2.18pm: The Treasury has set aside $ 50 billion for recovery, but so far only $ 30 billion has been allocated.
2.15pm: There was pre-budget speculation about “helicopter payments”, cash deliveries to all to promote spending, but these have not materialized.
2.13pm: Economist Cameron Bagrie says it’s a “big and bold” budget, but says he would have liked to see more strategies for New Zealand’s future, not just “money thrown like confetti.”
2.11pm: The wage support package continues for another eight weeks, but companies must now show a 50% drop in revenue year-over-year. Previously it was 30%.
2.06pm: “We are responding to calls for significant new investment as we face this global shock of 1 in 100 years and rebuild together,” said Finance Minister Grant Robertson.
“The full impact of Covid-19 worldwide is yet to be seen. The depth and duration of the pandemic means that the economic outlook is very uncertain and the forecasts will change.
“But what they clearly show is the scale of the economic challenge ahead.
2.04pm: The unemployment forecast will peak at 10% next month and will drop back to pre-Covid levels of around 4% in two years.
Budget to move from surplus to deficit of $ 28 billion.
14:00: Here are the main points:
$ 50 billion Covid-19 Recovery and Response Fund
$ 3.2 billion directed wage subsidy extension
$ 1.4 billion in trades and apprenticeship training
$ 1.1 billion environmental jobs scheme
$ 3 billion infrastructure projects
$ 400 million tourist recovery fund
8000 new public and transitional housing
$ 32 million for food banks
1.05pm: The Director General of Health has announced the details of today’s coronavirus case. There have been no new cases since yesterday or more deaths. New Zealand emerged from the running of the bulls and entered Level 2 alert today.
12.45pm: The Reserve Bank yesterday detailed the magnitude of the financial pressures facing the country, pledging to keep interest rates very low for the foreseeable future and pumping billions of dollars in bonds into the economy.
He predicts that unemployment will rise to 9%, house prices will drop almost a tenth and inflation will possibly drop below 1%.
