Latest / The Kākā by Bernard Hickey
Why Budget 2023 is more austere than it appears
TL;DR: Stronger-than-forecast net migration and population growth looks set to make Labour’s last Budget before the election on October 14 more austere and detract more from inflation than most believed from a first look at last Thursday’s Budget 2023.
The implications for the economy, residential land prices, interest rates and Government borrowing would be profound if net migration keeps pounding along at a rate of over 100,000 per year through 2023 and 2024, or even higher if a National/ACT Government further loosens visa settings and tightens spending after the election.
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