Colin Lynch
Deputy Secretary to the Treasury
The Financial Statements of the Government of New Zealand for the eleven months ended 31 May 2010 were released by the Treasury today.
The monthly financial statements are compared against monthly forecast tracks based on the 2010 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update published in May 2010.
Overall, the operating balance before gains and losses for the year to the end of May was a deficit of $4.7 billion. This deficit was $1.1 billion smaller than expected with tax revenue slightly ahead of forecast and expenditure slightly below.
The Crown’s net debt stood at $25.4 billion, or 13.6% of GDP, which was in line with forecasts.
Looking to the full year to 30 June, we expect tax revenue to remain close to forecast while there is a risk that expenses may come in marginally below expected levels. Net debt is expected to come in close to forecast. Meanwhile, lower than expected investment returns driven by the recent weakening in equity markets are likely to push the operating balance deficit higher than expected.
|
Year to date | Full Year | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
$ million | May 2010 Actual1 |
May 2010 BEFU Forecast1 |
Variance to BEFU $m |
Variance to BEFU % |
June 2010 BEFU Forecast2 |
Core Crown | |||||
Core Crown tax revenue | 46,568 | 46,325 | 243 | 0.5 | 50,652 |
Core Crown revenue | 51,687 | 51,488 | 199 | 0.4 | 56,406 |
Core Crown expenses | 57,754 | 58,312 | 558 | 1.0 | 64,791 |
Core Crown residual cash | (7,734) | (7,820) | 86 | 1.1 | (9,069) |
Gross debt3 | 52,636 | 53,321 | 685 | 1.3 | 53,810 |
as a percentage of GDP | 28.1% | 28.5% | 28.4% | ||
Net debt4 | 25,388 | 25,410 | 22 | 0.1 | 26,642 |
as a percentage of GDP | 13.6% | 13.6% | 14.1% | ||
Total Crown | |||||
Operating balance before gains and losses | (4,742) | (5,820) | 1,078 | 18.5 | (6,927) |
Operating balance | (2,156) | (2,083) | (73) | (3.5) | (3,179) |
Net Worth | 97,274 | 97,208 | 66 | 0.1 | 96,479 |
1 Using GDP for the year ended 31 March 2010 of $187,362 million (Source: Statistics New Zealand)
2 Using forecast GDP for the year ended 30 June 2010 of $189,526 million (Source: Treasury)
3 Gross sovereign-issued debt excluding settlement cash and Reserve Bank bills
4 Net core Crown debt excluding student loans and other advances
ENDS
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