Dr Peter Bushnell
Deputy Secretary to the Treasury
The Financial Statements of the Government of New Zealand for the six months ended 31 December 2007 were released by the Treasury today.
The 31 December 2007 monthly financial statements are compared against monthly forecast tracks based on the 2007 Half Year Budget Economic and Fiscal Update.
December highlights#
- OBEGAL was $20 million (0.8%) lower than forecast at $2,529 million (compared to a forecast of $2,549 million), with both tax revenue and core Crown expenses broadly in line with what was expected
- However, the operating balance was $1,696 million (67.5%) lower than forecast at $815 million (compared to a forecast of $2,511 million). This was primarily driven by:
- investment losses recorded by Crown Financial Institutions (CFIs), and
- an increase in the ACC unfunded liability
- Core Crown residual cash was $356 million lower than forecast at -$812 million (compared to a forecast of -$456 million). This was mainly due to higher than expected operating payments ($235 million) and lower than expected tax receipts ($154 million)
- GSID (excluding settlement cash) was 18.8% of GDP compared to a forecast of 18.4% (based on September 2007 GDP), and
- Net core Crown debt was $202 million lower than forecast at $3,598 million (compared to a forecast of $3,800 million).
| Year to date | Full Year | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2007 Actual |
December 2007 Forecast |
Variance $m |
Variance % |
HYEFU June 2008 Forecast |
|
| $ million | |||||
| Core Crown | |||||
| Core Crown revenue (excl. NZS Fund) [1] | 29,455 | 29,626 | (171) | (0.6) | 62,130 |
| Core Crown expenses | 27,698 | 28,017 | 319 | 1.1 | 57,137 |
| NZS Fund operating balance | (230) | 470 | (700) | (148.9) | 917 |
| Core Crown residual cash | (812) | (456) | (356) | 78.1 | 759 |
| GSID (excl. settlement cash) | 32,106 | 31,407 | (699) | (2.2) | 33,303 |
| as a percentage of GDP [2] | 18.8% | 18.4% | 18.7% | ||
| Net Core Crown debt | 3,598 | 3,800 | 202 | 5.3 | 1,983 |
| as a percentage of GDP [2] | 2.1% | 2.2% | 1.1% | ||
| Net Core Crown debt (incl. NZS Fund) | (8,755) | (9,314) | (559) | 6.0 | (13,102) |
| as a percentage of GDP [2] | (5.1)% | (5.4)% | (7.4)% | ||
| Total Crown | |||||
| OBEGAL | 2,529 | 2,549 | (20) | (0.8) | 6,574 |
| Operating Balance | 815 | 2,511 | (1,696) | (67.5) | 7,388 |
1 NZS Fund revenue is the sum of its revenue (ie, interest and dividends) adjusted to add back tax revenue received by Inland Revenue from the Fund.
2 GDP for the year ended 30 September 2007 (Source: Statistics New Zealand).
ENDS
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