Welcome from John Whitehead, Secretary to the Treasury
Page updated 29 Oct 2009
Welcome to the website of the New Zealand Treasury.
The New Zealand Treasury is the Government’s lead advisor on economic, financial and regulatory policy, and has the overall vision of helping achieve higher living standards for New Zealanders.
In recent times we have been working towards that vision in extraordinary circumstances. New Zealand is experiencing the most difficult economic conditions we have seen in generations as a deep, synchronised, ongoing global recession has coincided with a protracted domestic recession. That has meant facing challenges and thinking about issues in ways we haven’t had to for 70 years.
At the same time, the Government has set out new priorities and different performance expectations. Ministers are looking for the Treasury to take a lead in improving state sector performance - acting as a catalyst for sector-wide change.
With the world in which the Treasury operates undergoing swift and marked transformation, the face of the Treasury has changed with it. We have had to call on all our strengths as an economic and financial advisor, demonstrate state sector leadership as a Central Agency (alongside the State Services Commission and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet), and take on important new operational roles.
The new economic and political landscape reinforces the importance of the three key outcomes that the Treasury works towards to strengthen the economy and raise living standards: economic growth, macroeconomic stability and state sector performance. It is critical that we continue to advise effectively on policies and strategies that matter for New Zealand’s long-term economic performance. We need to help maintain a stable and sustainable economy during the most unstable conditions for decades. We must also keep driving state sector performance that reflects fiscal reality and delivers on the Government’s objectives of smarter, better public services for less.
Through this website, we aim to make our work more accessible to all who have an interest in what we do. It contains a wealth of resources on various aspects of our work, including information on the Budget, the New Zealand economy, the state sector, and the full range of Treasury publications.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you require further information or would like to provide some feedback on the site.
In the meantime, I hope you find this website a valuable "window on the world" of the New Zealand Treasury.
John Whitehead
Chief Executive and Secretary to the Treasury