NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern Pre-budget Speech

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern given a pre-budget. Her key points are:

• Country about to enter a very tough winter
• Budget 2020 will look to accelerate employment, empower businesses, and stimulate economy
• Projections suggest economic shock could be sharp, but hopefully short
• Government's ability to borrow at very low interest rates places it in a strong position
• “When times are hard you don’t cut, you invest”
• Government plans to invest to create jobs and get economy moving
• Number one priority is jobs – this means the budget will be a jobs budget.

The

NZD is little changed in immediate response

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The RBNZ OCR decision and Monetary Policy Statement will be released at 2pm, followed by a press conference at 3pm.

NZ budget will be announced 2pm Thursday.

Current indicative levels are:

NZD-USD 0.6070 / 0.6095

NZD-AUD 0.9390 / 0.9415

NZD-EUR 0.5590 / 0.5615

NZD-GBP 0.4945 / 0.4970

NZD-JPY 65.10 / 65.35

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