Grant Robertson: No ‘accounting trick’ to Government debt measure

Paul Glass’ opinion piece on April 10 draws a misleading picture of government spending and debt position as New Zealand emerged from the shadow of the 1-in-100-year economic shock from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Government has always taken the stewardship of our country’s finances very seriously. Prior to the pandemic, the Government’s operating balance in 2019 was in surplus ($2.4 billion) while debt had fallen below 20 per cent of GDP, at 19.2 per cent. Despite Mr Glass’ assertion, the creation of the Provincial Growth Fund, which was the result of coalition talks in 2017 between Labour and NZ First, did not result in higher debt levels.

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