Media StatementFinancial Statements of the Government of New Zealand for the Seven Months Ended 31 January 2008
18 March 2008
Dr Peter Bushnell
Deputy Secretary to the Treasury
Revised Financial Statements of the Government of New Zealand for the seven months ended 31 January 2008 were released by the Treasury today.
They were revised to correct a $0.6 billion error in tax revenue reported in the Statements released on 6 March. No other changes have been made.
Revised January results
- The operating balance is in surplus by $0.2 billion (previously reported as a deficit of $0.4 billion). This is $3.6 billion lower than forecast primarily due to:
- $2.5 billion lower than forecast returns on the financial asset portfolios of the NZS Fund ($1.5 billion lower than forecast), ACC ($0.7 billion lower than forecast) and EQC ($0.3 billion lower than forecast), and
- $1.0 billion more than forecast loss on the revaluation of the ACC claims liability.
- Adjusting for the non-cash valuation changes, the OBEGAL was in line with the forecast with a surplus of $3.6 billion (previously reported as a surplus of $3.1 billion).
- Residual cash and consequently the debt indicators were largely on target (these were not affected by the error).
| Year to date | Full Year | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2008 Actual |
January 2008 Forecast |
Variance $m |
Variance % |
HYEFU June 2008 Forecast |
|
| $ million | |||||
| Core Crown | |||||
| Core Crown revenue (excl. NZS Fund) [1] | 34,637 | 35,143 | (506) | (1.4) | 62,130 |
| Core Crown expenses | 32,126 | 32,525 | 399 | 1.2 | 57,137 |
| NZS Fund operating balance | (911) | 539 | (1,450) | (269.0) | 917 |
| Core Crown residual cash | 478 | 588 | (110) | (18.7) | 759 |
| GSID (excl. settlement cash) | 31,605 | 31,595 | (10) | (0.0) | 33,303 |
| as a percentage of GDP [2] | 18.5% | 18.5% | 18.7% | ||
| Net Core Crown debt | 2,647 | 2,634 | (13) | (0.5) | 1,983 |
| as a percentage of GDP [2] | 1.5% | 1.5% | 1.1% | ||
| Net Core Crown debt (incl. NZS Fund) | (9,257) | (10,708) | (1,451) | 13.6 | (13,102) |
| as a percentage of GDP [2] | (5.4)% | (6.3)% | (7.4)% | ||
| Total Crown | |||||
| OBEGAL | 3,649 | 3,690 | (41) | (1.1) | 6,574 |
| Net gains / (losses) | (3,536) | 15 | (3,551) | 636 | |
| Operating Balance | (198) | 3,793 | (3,595) | (94.8) | 7,388 |
1 For the purposes of this indicator the NZS Fund is treated as a third party (i.e. its revenue is not included but the tax it pays is).
2 GDP for the year ended 30 September 2007 (Source: Statistics New Zealand).
ENDS
Officer for Enquiries
Warwick White | Macroeconomic GroupTel: +64 4 917 6003
Fax: +64 4 471 5956
Email: warwick.white@treasury.govt.nz
