Parmar Parmjeet: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeParmar Parmjeet: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 11 February 2016. Volume:711;Page:8919. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]2.Dr PARMJEET PARMAR (National) to the Minister of Finance: What is the outlook for the New Zealand economy and how does this compare with other developed countries?Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance): There is quite a lot of international uncertainty at the moment ranging from concerns about the European banking system emerging market capital flows and continued lower commodity prices. However the New Zealand economy remains on track for further solid growth in 2016. It is now in its 7th consecutive year of expansion and Treasury is forecasting growth to average over 2.5 percent per year through to 2020. The Reserve Bank is forecasting 2.8 percent growth over the next 3 years and 173000 more jobs. New Zealand compares well with other developed countries with forecast growth expected to be in line with Australia and to exceed most other developed countries.Dr Parmjeet Parmar: In view of recent international developments what are some of the risks to the domestic economic outlook?Hon BILL ENGLISH: Global economic uncertainty could certainly have some flow-on consequences to the New Zealand economy although they are not all negative. For instance weak commodity prices have made it considerably cheaper for families to fill up the car at the same time as reducing dairy sector returns. The Chinese economy is expected to continue slowing; however its transition to consumption-based growth continues and that is positive for our tourism and agriculture. Uncertainty around the impact of US interest rates beginning to rise may also reflect on our economy. However domestic data remains fairly positive and suggests that further solid growth will occur in 2016.Dr Parmjeet Parmar: How well placed is the New Zealand economy to manage downside risks to the economic outlook?Hon BILL ENGLISH: I suspect we are going to continue to get a fairly solid flow of news about the downside risks to the global economy but it was noted by the IMF yesterday that New Zealand is well placed to manage through global and domestic uncertainty. It points out the Government’s balance sheet is fairly strong and its accounts near balanced our credit rating remains strong the financial sector is sound and although house prices have risen further than we would like they have not led to a credit boom. As a result of this average wages are rising faster than inflation lower interest rates are helping first-home buyers and there is steady if not rising consumer business confidence.Dr Parmjeet Parmar: What steps is the Government taking to support growth and improve resilience in the economy?Hon BILL ENGLISH: One of the more recent higher-profile steps was agreement to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and it is good to note finally the support of the Labour Party for the TPP deal—as of yesterday; it could be different now. But the Government intends to stick to its position. Having agreed to the deal we will see it through. The other step the Government is taking is investing in infrastructure with clear plans laid out publicly for $50 billion of investment over the next 10 years.