3. Question No. 3—FinanceGREG O'CONNOR (Labour—Ōhāriu) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 3—Finance3. GREG O'CONNOR (Labour—Ōhāriu) to the Minister of Finance: What reports has he received on the resilience of the New Zealand economy to the impacts of COVID-19?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): The Government's scientific and health-led response to support the economy has been recognised by the global ratings agency Standard and Poor's (S&P). S&P Global Ratings published its latest economic outlook for Asia-Pacific today lowering its expected growth rate for the region in 2021 to 6.7 percent from 7.1 percent it forecast in June. New Zealand and Singapore were the only economies that S&P expects to have faster growth than it forecast in June. It upgraded New Zealand's forecast growth this year from 4.6 percent to 5.4 percent. They said The strong growth recorded in the first half of 2021 means that we will see robust full-year growth in New Zealand even after taking into account a sharp slowdown due to the recent pandemic-related lockdowns. We expect consumer spending and the labour market to remain resilient." Standard and Poor's expects New Zealand to record solid growth in the next three years and indicates a confidence in New Zealand businesses and workers that we have shown over the last year.Greg O'Connor: What reports has he seen on the contribution of the agricultural sector to the economy?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The economic recovery and our resilience is continuing to be supported by the dairy sector. Last week dairy prices at the Global Dairy Trade auction gained 1 percent and follow a 4 percent gain in the previous auction early in September. The gains were driven by stronger returns for whole milk powder which is a key indicator for the pay-out for dairy farmers. It shows that dairy is holding up well to Delta COVID-19 and does bode well for the Farmgate Milk Price due to the relatively large volumes of the product being traded at this time of the season when production is near its peak. Fonterra's mid-point forecast payout for the current season of $8 per kilo of milk solids would be the second highest in the cooperative sector. Overseas demand for our agricultural products remains robust despite the volatile global environment and we thank the sector for its contribution to the economy.Greg O'Connor: What reports has he seen on the resilience of households to COVID-19?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The latest Westpac McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index report found confidence among households has eased following the rise in alert levels but this is far less pronounced than last year's lockdown. The index declined 4.4 percent to 102.7 in the September quarter compared with the previous June quarter and below the long-term average of 110.6. While there was some growing nervousness about the economic outlook in the survey households said that they felt fairly secure about their personal financial situation. In fact an increasing number of respondents reported their financial position had improved over the last year and most expected that their finances would continue to strengthen over the coming year. This bodes well for the economy as our alert level settings are eased and it shows that our science- and health-led response continues to work for the economy."