1 December 2004

Cullen on Moody’s report

Finance Minister Michael Cullen has welcomed the latest analysis of the New Zealand economy by Moody’s ratings agency, saying it represents a significant endorsement of the government’s economic and fiscal management.

He was commenting on Moody’s statement that: New Zealand’s stable political environment, which has resulted in an institutional framework that consistently produces disciplined fiscal and monetary policies, is an important element in the Aaa ratings assigned by Moody’s to the country and its government.

“But the report also contains a caution for those parties which would introduce substantial tax cuts and/or spending increases.

“Moody’s notes that its judgement in confirming the Aaa rating is based on the expectation that government debt – barring temporary downturns in revenue due to external shocks – will not rise above current levels,” Dr Cullen said.

“This is consistent with the message of the OECD in a commentary on New Zealand released yesterday stating that additional fiscal stimulus at this point in the cycle would be unhelpful and would anyway need to be offset by higher interest rates in order to bring the economy back on to a sustainable growth path.”

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>