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Election campaign focuses on post-Covid economy

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Sun, 20 Sep 2020, 10:50AM
Finance Minister Grant Robertson and National's finance spokesman Paul Goldsmith. (Photo / NZ Herald)
Finance Minister Grant Robertson and National's finance spokesman Paul Goldsmith. (Photo / NZ Herald)

Election campaign focuses on post-Covid economy

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Sun, 20 Sep 2020, 10:50AM

The election campaign focused on the economy this week, with Labour and National offering different takes on how to get out of our new recession.

The Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update released this week forecasts a 7.8 percent peak in the March 2022 quarter - down from 9.8 percent forecast for this September quarter.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson says under the last forecast 268,000 people would have been out of work - now 50,000 fewer will be jobless.

Net core Crown debt of $83.4 billion is forecast to climb to $201.1 billion - or 55.3 percent of GDP - by 2023/24.

The weeks put New Zealand's economy in a recession for the first time in 11 years - marked by two quarters of negative growth.

In response, National is promising a temporary "massive" tax cuts which it says will put $3000 in the back pocket of middle New Zealanders.

If elected, the party would lift the bottom, middle and top tax thresholds in a bid to "let Kiwis keep more of what they earn".

The overall size of National's plan is $10 billion over five years and will be paid for by using the unallocated portion of the Government's Covid-19 fund and by spending less money than a Labour Government would over the same period.

NZ Herald political reporter Jason Walls joined Francesca Rudkin to discuss what it all means.

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