Strong jobs market keeps govt books healthy

Finance minister Grant Robertson. (Image: Getty)

Thu, 05 May 2022

The New Zealand government delivered a smaller deficit than expected in the nine months through March, as record-low unemployment and ongoing wage growth underpinned an 11% increase in intake from income taxes.The operating balance before gains and losses was a deficit of $8.11 billion in the nine months ended March 31, about $4.1b less than Treasury officials predicted in their December forecast. Still, it was wider than the $4.27b deficit a year earlier due to the mid-year lockdown, which led to the government reopening the purse strings...

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