Q&A: Budget 2023 preview - Liam Dann and Thomas Coughlan answer your questions
Finance Minister Grant Robertson is used to pressure, but even he might have woken up with clammy palms this morning.
He knows - along with the rest of New Zealand - that today’s Budget is a do-or-die moment for Labour ahead of the general election in October.
The circumstances couldn’t be much tougher. Inflation is still well above target rates - and the Reserve Bank has signalled it’ll stay the course until the heat comes out of the economy. A Budget lolly scramble would have the opposite effect.
At the same time, Kiwis are struggling with the cost of living; extreme weather events have left huge clean-up bills; sectors such as healthcare and education are screaming out for help; and decades of under-investment in critical infrastructure are starting to hit home.
That’s what you call a Budget tightrope. Does Robertson have any chance of navigating it, or are we all just waiting to see how far he - and the Government - falls? We asked business editor-at-large Liam Dann and deputy political editor Thomas Coughlan to tell us what they think in a live Q&A with Herald Premium subscribers this morning.
- Thanks for your questions - submissions are now closed. Stay with nzherald.co.nz for full coverage and analysis of Budget 2023.