New Zealand always ranks highly in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business report. This year, we have come out first. What has brought about this change? Have we still got room for improvement? Every...
Core Crown tax revenue is currently around $70 billion a year and is forecast to increase to $90 billion by 2020/21. Tax revenue is by far the largest share of core Crown revenue ($76 billion in 2015...
Annual Consumers Price Index (CPI) inflation rose from 0.4% to 1.3% in December 2016. This brings inflation back within the RBNZ's target band (of 1-3%) for the first time since 2014. The sudden rise...
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake occurred in North Canterbury just after midnight on 14 November causing extensive damage and some loss of life in the Kaikōura and adjoining regions. The town of Kaikōura...
Today's Staff Insights article presents selected demographic statistics for New Zealand by income quintile for the 2014/15 tax year. The article discusses the data, how to interpret it and some common...
Over the first half of 2016 the economy grew at a faster pace than was expected in the Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (the Budget Update), as did tax revenue. Forward indicators suggest this...
In this article, Su'a Thomsen shares his views on the Treasury's pacific engagement programme. Treasury's Living Standards Framework recognises that engagement of all New Zealanders in all facets of...
Debt, and household debt in particular, garnered considerable attention earlier in the year. This special topic provides an overview of household debt developments following the release by the Reserve...
The New Zealand Government is targeting an increase in the ratio of real exports to GDP to 40 percent by 2025. To shed some light on what drives these transitions we looked at episodes to export...
The average size of deficits recorded in the current account of the balance of payments has been relatively low in recent years. During the same period New Zealand’s net external liability position has decreased from 80% of GDP to 60%. These developments suggest that the New Zealand economy is less likely to experience a disruptive outflow of foreign capital than in the past. This special topic looks at the factors underpinning the lower deficits and considers the implications for Treasury’s forecast of wider deficits in coming years.