4. Question No. 4—FinanceHon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 4—Finance4. Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) to the Minister of Finance: What reports has he seen on the impact of COVID-19 on the New Zealand economy?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): I've seen a range of forecasts from Treasury and from other economists some of them very recently. Their estimates of the impact of COVID-19 varies significantly with the key factor in the variance being how long we spend under lockdown. This supports our go hard go early" approach to COVID-19 and that the best economic response we can provide to the virus is to eliminate it. What this evidence also demonstrates is that there is not yet consensus about what will happen to the economy in the future as a consequence of COVID-19. What I can say is that this Government is taking timely and targeted action to support jobs businesses and families and we will provide our next steps in that plan tomorrow.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Does the Reserve Bank's estimate just released that there will be 150000 job losses by September match his expectations?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I will deliver the Budget tomorrow which will include Treasury's forecasts and I don't want to get ahead of that at this stage. Obviously those are the Reserve Bank's forecasts.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Is he absolutely certain that Kiwis such as construction workers weren't prevented from working for longer than they needed to be?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I am convinced of the strategy that the Government undertook to go hard and go early. I know the member is making a reference to the fact that there were different rules in Australia when it comes to the construction industry. Obviously we will only be able to see the outcome of that when all of the statistics are in for both Australia and New Zealand. What I think when I think about what's happened in terms of the virus—its impact on people from a health and an economic sense—is that we can say that both New Zealand and Australia have done well.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Why has his Government been slow to help small businesses cope with costs such as rents when they have no revenue?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I reject the premise of that question.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Does he acknowledge that the continuing restrictions under level 2 and 1 will cost many more jobs?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Our goal as the Prime Minister has articulated is to ensure that people stay in jobs that we support the private sector to create jobs and that as a Government we do everything we can to ensure we limit the number of people who lose jobs. That is our plan that is our goal regardless of what level of the framework we're at.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Will the Government redirect spending from low value for money areas such as the free fees policy to high value for money areas like effective support for small businesses to save jobs?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I'm disappointed that the member believes that investing in education is of low value.Hon Paul Goldsmith: What does a 4.5 percent fall in GDP as forecast by the Reserve Bank for this year mean for Kiwi families?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I think Kiwi families are well aware of the fact that we are facing a one-in-100-year shock to our economy and our society. I said as far back in this House as 17 March that we would be in for a significant shock to the economy that inevitably would see GDP go down and inevitably would see debt and deficits. That is what happens. The good news for New Zealanders and the good news for Kiwi families is that we came into this with a very strong fiscal position which enables us to be able to come out the other side strongly.David Seymour: Supplementary.SPEAKER: Before the member asks the supplementary I'll indicate that the Clerk's Office has just been informed that there's been a transfer of supplementaries to the member which breaches the rules which require the indication to the Speaker's office before the House sits. Last week I stopped the Green Party asking questions because I wasn't told before the House sat of the transfer of questions from another party. I am however prepared on this occasion in order to allow for accountability—Rt Hon Winston Peters: Seek leave.SPEAKER: No I'm not going to seek leave because it's not in the Standing Orders; it's one of the office practices. I am going to allow the member to ask the two supplementaries but this is the last occasion where it occurs where the proper processes are not followed. David Seymour.David Seymour: Mr Speaker thank you for that forbearance. Can he tell the House to what extent the Government intends to take advantage of reports just now that the Reserve Bank will increase its Large Scale Asset Purchase programme from a value of $33 billion previously announced to $60 billion? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: All matters to do with the Government's intentions around borrowing will be covered tomorrow.David Seymour: How does the Minister intend to repay $60 billion of money issued in return for Government assets by the Reserve Bank?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I believe that you'll find that the Reserve Bank has created an envelope of borrowing that is possible. That doesn't mean the Government would necessarily take it all up or that the Reserve Bank would use it all. What I would say is that in our history in New Zealand we have had times where we have needed to borrow money in order to be able to make sure that New Zealanders get through a crisis and come out the other side. The answer to that for me is making sure that we support people to get into work to be productive to grow our economy sustainably. The answer is not cuts and austerity."