1. Question No. 1—FinanceBARBARA EDMONDS (Labour—Mana) to the Minister of FinanceORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSQuestion No. 1—Finance1. BARBARA EDMONDS (Labour—Mana) to the Minister of Finance: Lau Afioga le Fofoga Fetalai. What recent reports has he seen on the New Zealand economy?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): Mr Speaker fa'afetai lava. Malo le soifua. Overnight the OECD released its latest global economic outlook including for New Zealand. The OECD expects the New Zealand economy to be a relatively strong performer through the pandemic with a small impact in 2020 and a solid recovery. It forecasts growth of 3.5 percent in 2021 and 3.8 percent in 2022 in line with the Budget update driven by solid household consumption rising investment in infrastructure and gradual increase in tourism as the borders reopen. By the end of the forecast period New Zealand's growth rate of 3.8 percent is expected to outperform most of the countries we compare ourselves to: Australia at 3.4 percent Japan 2 percent the United States at 3.6 percent while Canada matches New Zealand at 3.8 percent. However the OECD warns that before the improved outlook challenges remain. Global activity is picking up but the recovery is uneven with a lot of frictions.Barbara Edmonds: What other reports has he seen about the Budget's impact on New Zealand's economic outlook?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Budget 2021's focus on securing the economic recovery has been recognised by credit ratings agencies. Moody's Investors Service noted that Budget 2021 forecast a continued strengthening in the economic outlook thanks to the Government's swift and decisive response to the COVID-19 pandemic and underscoring New Zealand's robust credit quality. Standard & Poor's assessment of Budget 2021 confirmed that the country is recovering quicker than most advanced nations underpinning the agency's decision to upgrade New Zealand's credit rating in February. It noted that given the pace of the recovery Standard & Poor's believes the Government's credit metrics can withstand further negative shocks to the economy and its fiscal position at the current rating level."Barbara Edmonds: What other reports has he seen on the economy?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Statistics New Zealand reported that seasonally adjusted filled jobs rose to a new high in April increasing 0.3 percent on the previous March 2021 high. Filled jobs are now slightly above pre-COVID levels. Employment held up over the summer period despite the absence of international tourists. Statistics New Zealand says that filled jobs have returned to a more regular and upward trend in the last few months. Westpac bank commented that the growth in employment does not suggest that firms are having increased difficulty in filling vacancies in recent months. The Government is focusing on securing the recovery and Budget 2021 boosted our skills and training initiatives to allow people to transition more easily into different types of work.Andrew Bayly: What confidence does he have in the OECD's growth projections for New Zealand given that it assumes a rapid increase in the vaccination rate to enable the New Zealand border to be fully opened in early 2022?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I have great confidence in the New Zealand economy the businesses and the workers who work within it and I also have great confidence in a vaccine roll-out that is ramping up day by day."