The Treasury has published preliminary estimates of the economic impacts of the North Island weather events earlier in 2023 and a brief overview of the Government’s response to these events to date.
“Sharing the Treasury’s current understanding of the NIWE impacts helps provide a sense of the likely scale and resource implications from what will be a significant rebuild. It therefore helps analyst assessments of the New Zealand economy by providing important contextual information.”
The Treasury report continues:
Severe weather in January and February caused significant damage and disruption
The NIWE comprise of the severe weather that hit Auckland in late January, followed by Cyclone Gabrielle in February, both of which involved large-scale flooding. The NIWE caused widespread damage to buildings, businesses (including horticulture, agriculture and forestry) and infrastructure across multiple regions.
Initially the government’s focus has been supporting people in the immediate aftermath
The government’s response to date has included:
Helping businesses clean-up and getting back up-and- running. The government has announced $149 million of support for primary sector and non-primary sector businesses to date.
Making immediate repairs to state highways, bridges and local roads, with a $250 million top up of the National Land Transport Fund announced in late February.
Providing temporary accommodation assistance to people who cannot return to their homes.
Supporting affected families and communities, including via its $11.5 million package for NGOs and community groups, and the provision of Civil Defence Emergency Management payments to help cover weather-related costs (food, clothing, etc).
The impact of the NIWE is assessed across three economic dimensions
In considering the economic impacts of the NIWE the Treasury has assessed:
- output losses
- short-term price implications
- the extent of damage/destruction to physical assets.
