The Treasury - Te Tai Ōhanga is the Government’s lead economic and financial adviser and steward of the public sector financial management and regulatory systems.
Our vision is lifting living standards for all New Zealanders.
It’s important that New Zealand’s economy supports higher living standards for this and future generations, and that all New Zealanders can play their role in the economy and society. We want New Zealand to be prosperous, and for that prosperity to be sustainable and inclusive.
We provide advice to the Government on its overarching economic framework, on its fiscal strategy and on achieving value for money from its investments. We implement Government decisions and are also responsible for the Financial Statements of the Government, for ensuring effective management of the assets and liabilities on the Crown’s balance sheet, and for publishing economic and fiscal forecasts.
The Treasury also delivers operational services through:
The Treasury is one of the public sector’s three central agencies, along with:
The central agencies are jointly responsible for providing leadership, coordination and monitoring across the entire public sector.
As set out in our Strategic Intentions 2021-2025, there are four strategic outcomes that the Treasury works towards in order to lift living standards:
- A strong, growing, resilient economy for all
- Sustainable public finances that support intergenerational wellbeing
- System leadership that supports a high-performing public service
- Compelling advice on New Zealand’s biggest issues
Resources on the various aspects of our work can be found throughout this website, including information on:
Driving what we do is our vision of lifting living standards for all New Zealanders.
We recognise that living standards are affected by physical and financial resources such as infrastructure, housing, income and savings; people’s health, education and skills; social institutions and conventions; and natural resources such as quality water, a stable climate and biodiversity. This thinking is at the heart of our Living Standards Framework, a tool we use to help us advise governments about how the policy trade-offs they make are likely to affect everyone’s living standards. We also use He Ara Waiora, our te ao Māori wellbeing framework. He Ara Waiora helps the Treasury to understand waiora, often translated as a Māori perspective on wellbeing.
A broad view and an enquiring mind are essential for the Treasury. Real-world challenges have encouraged us to diversify our thinking, to be outwardly focused and collaborative, and to foster and harness greater diversity in the people who work for us. For more information on how we are thinking, acting and engaging differently see the following speech.
The Treasury was established in the same year the Treaty of Waitangi was signed and we place great respect on New Zealand’s bicultural foundations. This is symbolised by our wharenui, built in 1991, and our reo Māori name, Te Tai Ōhanga.
In his speech to mark the reawakening of our wharenui in 2019, former Secretary to the Treasury Gabriel Makhlouf spoke about the meaning and relevance of this name to the Treasury and its work.
The Venerable Don Rangi QSM, Treasury's former kaumatua and a staff member for 54 years, talks in this video about the significance of our wharenui for everyone at the Treasury - Te Tai Ōhanga.