Finance Minister Nicola Willis is resting her credibility on her ability to deliver tax cuts next year, despite heralding a bleak economic future as she unveiled nearly $7.5 billion worth of savings in the mini-Budget, and slammed the Labour Government’s fiscal record.
“It is actually very clear in the ACT-National coalition agreement that we will deliver the amount of tax relief we promised to individuals and their families, but the mechanism by which we do that is something we are continuing to take advice on,” she said.
Willis revealed her mini-Budget alongside the Treasury’s half-year economic and fiscal update in Wellington on Wednesday.
It set out a weaker economic position with a “shrunken” surplus, bigger borrowing requirements and greater fiscal risks such as those around infrastructure delivery and cyclone recovery, natural disasters and climate change.
She also spent time slamming “fiscal cliffs” of unallocated funding for projects which would be ongoing, such as for purchasing medicines, and promised reform to the Public Finance Act as a result.
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