Source: New Zealand Government
Budget 2022 will be delivered on Thursday 19 May, Finance Minister Grant Robertson announced today.
“This year’s budget will include a focus on the Government’s heath reforms and investing to meet our climate change goals.
“New Zealand went into COVID-19 with a number of long-standing issues that needed to be addressed, regardless of the global pandemic. It would be irresponsible to acknowledge that our health system needs improvement, based on the lessons from COVID, but then not doing anything about it.
“Just as it would be equally reckless to just say ‘let’s forget about climate change for a year or two’. These are investments that we need to make as a country. We can’t afford not to make them,” Grant Robertson said.
“As I announced at the release of the Budget Policy Statement in December, Budget 2022 includes a one-off increase to the operating allowance to invest in major programmes, including the health reforms. This increase is to ensure we can move ahead with these programmes that will have long-term benefits for New Zealand.
“We will continue our careful and pragmatic approach to putting this Budget together. This means we will not be able to fund all the projects that are proposed and we will have to prioritise within our objectives. We will strike a balance between the important projects that need to be done and the ongoing need for fiscal sustainability,” Grant Robertson said.
