It was great to see the All Blacks cap off what has been an outstanding six-week Rugby World Cup festival when they dug deep to win the Webb Ellis Cup.
The tournament galvanised our country which has had a pretty tough couple of years with the Christchurch earthquakes, the Pike River tragedy, and the global financial crisis.
We certainly showed the world a stadium of four million hosts, looking after the touring players and the tens of thousands of visitors from Bluff to the Far North – and Queenstown inbetween.
The organisers expect close to 95,000 international visitors will have touched down in the country – and with the worldwide media coverage, the long-term benefits cannot be underestimated.
While the economic mood is ugly in the United States and Europe, this Government is making good progress in getting on top of deficits and debt, despite numerous challenges.
This week Treasury released its pre-election economic and fiscal update which shows our economy is continuing to pick up pace.
It’s forecasting average annual growth of almost three per cent between 2012 and 2016 with 150,000 new jobs and strong growth in wages (almost four per cent a year) and household incomes.
The economy has now grown in eight of the past nine quarters and growth in the first half of this year has been stronger than forecast in Budget 2011 in May. There were 43,000 new jobs created in the past year – 20,000 more than forecast in the May Budget.
This solid growth outlook, combined with the Government’s responsible economic management, has ensured we are on track to move from a forecast deficit of $10.8 billion this year to a surplus of $1.5b in 2014/15. Getting back to surplus as soon as possible is one of the most important things the Government can do to lift national savings and rebalance the economy towards our productive sectors.
Lower global growth is expected to keep interest rates lower for longer – reducing financing costs for mortgage holders, businesses and the Government.
While the outlook for many developed countries has weakened, New Zealand is expected to benefit from our growing trade links with Australia and faster-growing Asian economies, which now take about 60 per cent of our exports. The Canterbury rebuild will also support growth, with Treasury revising its damage estimate from the earthquakes from $15b to $20b, meaning the rebuild will be longer and contribute more to economic activity.
In the current uncertain global environment, it’s important the Government remains focused on its plan to return to surplus faster and build a more competitive economy so we can sell more to the world.
Bill English is the deputy Prime Minister and National’s Wakatipu candidate in next month’s election
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