As New Zealand's lead advisor to the Government on economic and financial policy, the Treasury plays a critical role in helping the Government set budgets and in preparing forecasts.
Budgets
The Treasury helps in the preparation of the government's annual Budget by:
- advising the Minister of Finance on Budget policy
- compiling and processing budget initiative proposals from Vote Ministers, and
- preparing budget documents such as the Estimates, the Budget Economic and Fiscal Update and the Fiscal Strategy.
The latest Budget was released on 30 May 2024.
Budget 2025 will be released on 22 May 2025. The Budget 2025 cycle began with the release of the Budget Policy Statement 2025 on 17 December 2024.
Forecasts
The Treasury's forecasts for Government finances (or fiscal forecasts) are published at least twice a year in Economic and Fiscal Updates (EFUs).
The most recent published forecast is the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update 2024, published on 17 December 2024.
The next forecast will be the Budget Economic and Fiscal Update 2025 (BEFU), to be released on 22 May 2025.