5 June 2013

OECD gives thumbs up to Green economic direction

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) supports key Green Party policies for enhancing economic prosperity, the Green Party said today.

The OECD 2013 Economic Survey of New Zealand out today strongly endorsed a new tax on capital gains and deposit insurance to protect everyday savers from our banks that are ‘too big to fail’.

“The OECD has shown that the Green Party is on the right track with economic policies for creating a richer New Zealand,” said Green Party Co-leader Dr Russel Norman.

“A comprehensive tax on capital gains (excluding the family home) is good for the productive economy and will create a fairer society, rather than promote the fortunes of property speculators.

“The National Government are failing to share the benefits of economic prosperity fairly, with the OECD citing ‘well below average incomes’ and ‘particularly high pre-tax capital-income inequality’ as problems needing redress.

“On deposit insurance, New Zealand is one of only two countries in the OECD that does not protect everyday depositor’s funds from bank failure.

“The National Government is letting our major banks get off scot-free from having to pay insurance premiums to protect their customers’ savings – premiums that banks have to pay everywhere else.

“We think $100,000 is a fair level of protection for New Zealand savers.”

The OECD also found that the use of environmental taxes was very low by OECD standards and their increased use would enhance the quality of future growth. They recommended the creation of a sovereign wealth fund to manage any mining royalties more equitably.

“The OECD has found that mining royalties and access charges are extremely low in New Zealand, along with the carbon price signal,” Dr Norman said.

“The Green Party will strengthen the carbon price signal, put a price on the commercial use of water, and remove National’s concessionary tax treatment for mining companies while establishing a mining royalties reserve fund to ensure the benefits from mining are shared more fairly across generations.

“Unlike the current National Government, we won’t run the New Zealand economy in the interests of property speculators, big foreign banks, and the mining sector.”

Link to OECD country report

http://www.oecd.org/newzealand/new-zealand-2013.htm

ENDS

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