Joyce in hot seat but targets remain
AVID followers of government Budgets may notice a slight difference in style on May 25 when Finance Minister Steven Joyce presents his Budget 2017.
Mr Joyce reminded the Otago Daily Times yesterday he had been Prime Minister Bill English’s offsider for eight Budgets and claimed the two had similar thinking — something the newspaper disputed.
‘‘There will be some bits that look similar and some which will look different.’’
Mr Joyce was in Dunedin yesterday to address the Otago Chamber of Commerce about the economy as a precursor to his electionyear Budget.
In an interview he said his thinking process had changed since he had been appointed as Finance Minister.
‘‘I use the joke: ‘I have a lot more friends than I used to, until at least May. Then I expect the number to reduce’.’’
There would not be a large electionyear spendup.
He admitted it was difficult to make the calculations of where the money should be spent this year but the Government targets had not changed. It would continue to invest in public services for growth, invest in infrastructure, maintain the debt target of 20% of GDP and review the tax structure.
His aim was to return more income to lower and middleincome families so they could enjoy the benefits of a growing economy.
Asked about funding the Dunedin Hospital rebuild, he said one of the things which had become apparent to him was the long life assets such as hospitals had, and it was important to have the correct process. The Government was working through the process of identifying the right site and structure for the Dunedin Hospital.
Although the Budget was unlikely to include much for business, there would be recognition of the growing economy and the amount of money being invested in research and development.