Deficit has been above 8% of GDP for 4 successive years

"3. CHRIS TREMAIN (National"”Napier) to the Minister of Finance: What reports has he received on New Zealand's economic and financial performance? Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance) : This morning I received a report from Statistics New Zealand that the current account deficit for the year ended December 2008 has increased to over $16 billion, or 8.9 percent of GDP. The deficit has now been above 8 percent of GDP for 4 successive years. The cumulative increase in New Zealand's net foreign liabilities during this period is in excess of $57 billion. Chris Tremain: How does this report compare with the position 10 years ago? Hon BILL ENGLISH: Ten years ago the previous Minister of Finance, Dr Cullen, made a huge deal about how the current account deficit proved that all the economic policy for the preceding 15 years had been a failure. At that stage it was just $4 billion, or 4 percent of GDP. That was before Labour embarked on a strategy of import-led growth, which has led to a doubling of the current account deficit." - Parliament TV