The Treasury plays an important leadership role in the public sector and publishes a range of guidance for departments and other entities as well as information on public sector performance.
What is the public sector?
The public sector is the broad range of organisations that serve as instruments of the Crown in respect of the Government of New Zealand.
These organisations include, as well as others:
- Public service departments
- Crown entity companies, and
- State-owned enterprises.
The Treasury's role in the public sector
The Treasury plays a key role in New Zealand’s public service, as the Government’s lead economic and financial advisor and steward of public sector financial management.
The Treasury’s role in this area is to ensure public services are delivered in the most efficient and effective way, both to meet the Government’s objectives and to generate the maximum possible benefit for taxpayers' money for a given level of expenditure.
Public sector performance and the central agency role
The Treasury’s interest in improving public sector performance arises from its combined roles as lead economic and financial advisor to the Government and as a ‘central agency’.
Our role is critical to supporting the Government’s objective of an effective and efficient public sector that is responsive to the needs of New Zealanders. We can help influence outcomes across the public service by promoting value for money, providing guidance to lift public sector capability, working with other central agencies on public sector strategy, leadership and advice, and advising on institutional settings.
The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Public Service Commission, the Treasury, the Ministry for Regulation, and the Social Investment Agency are the five central agencies responsible for coordinating and managing public service performance. The central agencies work together to deliver results for ministers and everyone in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Whole-of-Government Financial Reporting
The Treasury is responsible for establishing and maintaining a system of controls to ensure that government transactions are within statutory authority, and that all use of public finance resources are properly recorded. The Financial Statements of the Government of New Zealand are prepared by the Treasury in accordance with the Public Sector Finance Act 1989.
Budget Process
The Treasury helps in the preparation of the Government's annual Budget by advising the Minister of Finance on Budget policy; preparing macroeconomic and fiscal forecasts; 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 Report. For more information, see the Budget Process section of the Budgets menu on this web site.
Public sector guidance and instructions
The Treasury publishes a range of guidance for public sector entities on financial management, the Budget, financial reporting, financial powers, appropriations, and other aspects of New Zealand’s public financial management system.
- Guidance
- Publication Search - Guidance