Govt blames outdated Budget figures for Housing NZ dividend U-turn

Mon, 11 Jul 2016

By Pattrick Smellie July 11 (BusinessDesk) - The government no longer expects to receive dividends from Housing New Zealand, despite forecasts just six weeks ago of $38 million and $54 million over the next two years. Finance Minister Bill English's office released a statement on request from media saying the figures in the May 26 Budget "appear to be based on older HNZ numbers dating from almost a year ago". The disclosure came after Labour Party MPs accused the government of making housing policy "on the hoof" when Associate Finance...

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