Robertson's new rules to have your fiscal cake and eat it too

The new debt target is a defence against accusations of a spend-thrift govt (Image: Getty)

Tue, 03 May 2022

Finance minister Grant Robertson has announced new fiscal rules for this month's budget targeting small fiscal surpluses and introducing a new debt ceiling.“What we are doing is more accurately representing New Zealand’s fiscal position and putting it in line with the rest of the world,” he told a pre-budget business audience in Wellington. Under the new rules, surpluses will be kept within a band of 0% and 2% of gross domestic product to ensure day-to-day spending is not adding to debt.First, however, the country has...

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