3. Economy—Innovation Productivity and ReportsDr DEBORAH RUSSELL (Labour—New Lynn) to the Minister of FinanceEconomy—Innovation Productivity and Reports3. Dr DEBORAH RUSSELL (Labour—New Lynn) to the Minister of Finance: What recent reports has he seen on the New Zealand economy?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): I have seen several reports recently which suggest the fundamentals of the New Zealand economy remain strong. ASB commented this week that the trade-weighted index will remain supported by New Zealand's solid economic outlook strong export prices and our historically high terms of trade. Westpac economists said this week they expect growth near 3 percent over the next year and that this growth will be supported by fiscal policy and that the slight softening of growth in recent quarters has been linked to moderation in the housing market. This represents a transition away from a reliance on housing speculation and towards the productive side of the economy.Dr Deborah Russell: What recent reports and commentary has he seen on the importance of a more productive economy?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The 2018 Global Innovation Index was released recently detailing how innovative activity drives economic and human development. The 2018 report was based on data primarily from 2017 and 2016. It is disappointing to see that New Zealand's innovation ranking has dropped in the most recent report to the 22nd most innovative economy in the world from the 13th in 2012. Liam Dann in the New Zealand Herald commented that this is a damning indictment of the last Government's efforts to promote innovation in the economy." partly due to its cancellation of the previous Labour-led Government's R & D tax credit policy. Dr Deborah Russell: How will the coalition Government's plan help to turn this around and support the New Zealand economy to be more innovative and productive? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The Government's economic plan includes policies to get our R & D investment to 2 percent of GDP from our current position below the OECD average. This includes an R & D tax incentive that will give businesses certainty and encourage them to innovate instead of having to spend time and money dealing with the bureaucratic costs of the previous Government's R & D policy. This coalition Government's plan will unlock the growth potential of the productive side of our economy including in the regions so that we can transition to a more productive sustainable and inclusive growth path. David Seymour: Does the Minister believe introducing a capital gains tax (CGT) could help transition the economy to be more productive? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: There's no doubt that we need to see more investment in the productive side of our economy and away from the speculative side of our economy. Issues around whether or not a CGT will be released are part of the consideration of the Tax Working Group. David Seymour: Does the Minister favour introducing a capital gains tax? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I will wait to see the outcomes of the Tax Working Group but what I can say is that I favour more investment in New Zealand going towards the productive side of the economy and less of a focus on celebrating economic growth that's driven by population increase and people selling houses to each other which is what we saw for the last nine years."