Latest / The Kākā by Bernard Hickey
‘Fiscal drag’ + ‘sinking lid’ = early(er) surpluses
Treasury formally fired the starter’s gun on the economic and fiscal debates in Election 2026 today, publishing its statutorily required opening-of-the-books in the form of the Pre-Election Fiscal Update or PREFU.
It’s supposed to give all the parties the same level playing field of economic and budget assumptions from which to formulate (hopefully) coherent and legally sound sets of policies. It’s supposed to enable voters to compare apples with apples, without having to worry about parties using wild and sneaky assumptions to make their policies look good. It’s also supposed to remove or at…
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