Nicola Willis: Finance Minister on the pre-election opening of the Government books
National's Nicola Willis is putting the rosier Government books - unveiled today - down to Kiwis' hard work, but won't say whether they'll be repaid a dividend in the form of tax cuts.
Forecasts predict the next two years' deficits will be much smaller, and the 2028/29 surplus nearly $2 billion larger than earlier expected.
But much of that improvement is down to income-tax bracket creep, and more revenue from GST and company tax.
Willis says her focus is getting debt down, to buffer against any future shock.
"Those are National's budget responsibility rules - we have to deliver on those…
The skinny
The skinny isn't ready yet — notes appear once the transcript is processed.