Govt books show higher than forecast expenses

Finance minister Grant Robertson is warning NZ will not escape a global economic slowdown. (Image: Getty)

Thu, 01 Dec 2022

Rising interest rates have hit the government, too, with higher-than-forecast crown expenditure due to hikes to the official cash rate. The interim government financial statement for the four months to October, released by the Treasury on Thursday, showed core crown expenses were $41.8 billion – 1.2% or $500 million higher than the forecast at Budget 2022. A key driver of the increase was interest costs on settlement deposits held at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, resulting from official cash rate (OCR) increases being more th...

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