Foster-Bell Paul: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeFoster-Bell Paul: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 08 September 2015. Volume:708;Page:6298. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]3.PAUL FOSTER-BELL (National) to the Minister of Finance: What recent reports has he received highlighting the resilience of the New Zealand economy?Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance): Standard and Poor’s recently affirmed New Zealand’s foreign currency long-term sovereign credit rating at AA with a stable outlook. It pointed out New Zealand’s monetary and fiscal flexibility a resilient economy public policy stability and a sound financial sector. It acknowledged New Zealand’s high external debt and the possibility that foreign investors might become less willing to fund banks at reasonable interest rates. However it believes New Zealand’s banks will retain ready access to external markets. New Zealand’s fiscal framework was rated as credible and strong according to all three major credit rating agencies.Paul Foster-Bell: What was Standard and Poor’s assessment of the outlook for the New Zealand economy?Hon BILL ENGLISH: Standard and Poor’s says the rating outlook remains stable reflecting its expectation that New Zealand’s fiscal performance will continue to improve. Its assessment is that growth will slow to the low 2 percents in 2015-16 down from an estimated 3 percent in the year to 30 June 2015. Residential and other construction activity is likely to remain a key driver of growth and lower currency and falling interest rates should help to support economic growth. Standard and Poor’s says that New Zealand benefits from a high-income and resilient economy drawing on decades of structural reforms. Overall this is a reasonably positive assessment of the economy.Grant Robertson: When the last three ANZ Truckometer reports have been titled “Potholes” “Flat Tyre” and “Warning: Dip Ahead” and the last three ANZ business confidence surveys have been titled “Below the Belt” “Flagging” and—Mr SPEAKER: Order! Can I have the question.Grant Robertson: —“Slippery Slopes” is it not time for him to stop patronising New Zealanders and start getting real about the state of the economy?Hon BILL ENGLISH: I read past the first line of all those reports which is a time-consuming activity approximating work—Hon Steven Joyce: It’s called work.Hon BILL ENGLISH: —it is work; that is what work is—and I do not share quite as negative an attitude as ANZ does. But New Zealanders do not need to be told that things are a bit difficult. If you are dairy farming this week it is cold and wet the price is low and you do not need politicians pontificating about how tough it is.Paul Foster-Bell: What reports has he received showing continuing moderate wage and employment growth in the New Zealand economy?Hon BILL ENGLISH: Although the outlook for the economy has softened Treasury’s latest Monthly Economic Indicators report says that data released in August points to a moderation in growth over the June quarter and growth for the calendar year to 2015 is expected to be around 2 percent. That is below the Budget forecast that Treasury made. Total employment in the year to 30 June though was up by 3 percent and total weekly earnings increased by 5.3 percent. So up until 30 June jobs have been growing and weekly earnings have grown both significantly ahead of inflation.Grant Robertson: If he did read past the title of the latest ANZ business confidence survey did he see this graph here which the Prime Minister described as being positive or was he reading it upside down?Hon BILL ENGLISH: Yes I did see the graph and I am surprised and somewhat impressed that the member did—Hon Steven Joyce: It was further down the page.Hon BILL ENGLISH: —because it was a bit further down the page; that is right. But having seen the graph the Government has come to the conclusion that it is not the right thing to panic and go on about a crisis. The right thing to do is to support our businesses and our farms to export invest and employ more people.Paul Foster-Bell: How does New Zealand’s macroeconomic resilience compare internationally?Hon BILL ENGLISH: There are a number of indicators that together indicate a resilient economy—those being a broadly balanced Government Budget net debt less than 40 percent economic growth greater than 1.5 percent and scope to further cut interest rates should the economic situation worsen. These are not high economic hurdles but New Zealand meets all those criteria. In fact there are only four other OECD countries that meet the criteria of having a broadly balanced Government Budget net debt less than 40 percent economic growth greater than 1.5 percent and scope to cut interest rates. Those other countries are Australia Norway Iceland and South Korea. So by those measures this economy is as well placed as any to handle global turbulence.