The Dollar's So Low The Aussies Can Have It, Clark Says

Having driven the dollar down to a record low, the Government now wants to abandon it, National Finance spokesperson Bill English said today.

"Helen Clark's talk from New York about a joint Anzac currency is an admission that she has no faith in either the Government or Michael Cullen's ability to restore confidence in the dollar.

"This is precisely the wrong time for the Prime Minister to be musing about the dollar. It will be under real pressure in the next few weeks as a significant amount of New Zealand debt matures.

"There will be a lot more sellers than buyers, and the market expects the dollar to go even lower. The Prime Minister is irresponsible to be talking like this.

"Dr Cullen faces a huge task trying to restore confidence in New Zealand. The Prime Minister has just added to the pressure mounting on him to fix up his management of the economy or get out. Clearly she can see the tide of Dr Cullen's credibility going out.

"This would be just an other episode of Labour Party scrapping except that thousands of ordinary New Zealanders will be hurt as their cost of living surges.

"Helen Clark's panicky talk is out of tune with her Finance Minister who recently dismissed talk of a merger as nothing more than a "take-over bid" by the Australian dollar.

"Dr Cullen is also on the record saying that if we were going to adopt a joint currency 'then the US dollar would be a stronger candidate than the Australian dollar at this stage'.

"Unfortunately for New Zealanders' sake, both Helen Clark and Michael Cullen have shown this Government does not have the competence to manage the economy properly. Sound economic management is the only factor which could really rescue the dollar," Mr English said.

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