National is counting on brighter days as it counts down to its campaign for re-election.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Finance Minister Nicola Willis addressed delegates in Lower Hutt on Saturday at the annual National Party conference, both cautiously optimistic that economic headwinds were coming to a close.
Luxon said while he was not going to stand there and pretend the hard part was over, Kiwis were not the type of people to be put off by the weather, as strong winds and rain hit the Wellington region.
"We know the rain doesn't last forever... the skies are starting to clear."
During her economic address, Willis said it was no secret "that things took a turn in March - Thanks, Donald Trump."
"The global oil shock washed up here in higher fuel prices, higher costs, and a knock to confidence. Kiwis, already buffeted by a tough few years, had to brace themselves once again, and we feel for everyone impacted, and we wished we could wish it away, but we chose not to panic..."
"We faced the crisis with an eye not just to today but to tomorrow too," Willis said.
Willis said Treasury forecast that New Zealand's economy "is set to bounce back strongly as we look beyond the Middle East crisis, New Zealand is forecasting economic growth to accelerate and for debt to come down."
Statistics NZ released its gross domestic product data for the March quarter on Thursday. It showed the country’s economy grew 0.8% in the first three months of the year, before the impacts of the Middle East conflict and late-quarter fuel crisis really kicked-in.
Meanwhile, Willis was also celebrating statistics from the KiwiSaver contribution increase from 3% to 3.5%, saying almost three months since the default rate increased, only 9300 people opted out.
"Only half a per cent of regular contributors have opted out of the increase," she said.
“This means hundreds of thousands of Kiwis will be better off in retirement.”
1 Comments
"This means hundreds of thousands of Kiwis will be better off in retirement"
That depends whether NZ super remains. The more people have in retirement via kiwisaver, the lower the chance that tax payers will want their tax to pay for NZ super. I can't imagine taxpayers wanting to give a universal benefit to millionaires.
If they raise kiwisaver to 12%, that will be the end of NZ super. They may as well just announce it.
We welcome your comments below. If you are not already registered, please register to comment
Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments. Our current comment policy is here.