Bill English MP
National Party Finance Spokesman

07 May 2008

Clark can’t have it both ways on interest rates

“Helen Clark’s declaration that interest rates will come down because of the move to postpone climate change taxes is an admission that Labour's policies have pushed interest rates higher for longer.”

National Party Finance spokesman Bill English says Michael Cullen has consistently argued that interest rates were beyond his control and it was all the fault of the global economy.

“Today the Prime Minister has cut him off at the knees, by stating that she thinks interest rates will come down as a result of the climate tax delays.

“It was only a few weeks ago that Helen Clark rejected the suggestion that interest rates were ‘going through the roof’. In the same breath she went on to state ‘it’s not something fundamentally driven out of New Zealand’.

“How can Helen Clark be promising relief from the second highest interest rates in the developed world when it is a situation that Labour says is not of its making?”

Mr English says Labour has been warned several times by the Reserve Bank that its poorly targeted spending was partly responsible for the pressure that borrowers are under.

“It’s a bit rich for Helen Clark to turn around and tell the Reserve Bank to take action for her political benefit.

“Labour made a choice to keep interest rates higher for longer and now, in election year, Helen Clark pretends to care about the pain her Government’s policies have inflicted on the average family.

“This is an economic transformation I simply don’t believe.”

ENDS

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