22 October 2015

From Rock Star to Risk Watch in a year

The same bank that labelled the New Zealand economy a rock star last year has now put New Zealand on risk watch – a striking failure of economic management from National, Labour’s Finance spokesperson Grant Robertson says.

“This is a dramatic fall from grace. New Zealand is now labelled ‘one to watch’ for a possible downturn in HSBC’s latest Macro Health Check.

“We are now bundled into the same risky economies as Indonesia and Malaysia. This is remarkably poor economic management from National.

“Our links to China, rising asset prices and tumbling milk prices are the reasons we make the list of concerns. Economists, businesses and Labour have been warning National of these issues for well over a year but National turned a blind eye to it, preferring to revel in the rock star accolades.

“It’s blown up in their face. Not only is the economy on risk watch, unemployment is stubbornly high.

“There’s no Plan B from National. Plan A – relying on dairy prices and the Auckland housing bubble – are the very reasons the economy is now in the risk category. It’s time for a new plan.

“National has to face up to the fact they can’t simply outsource the management of the economy to the Reserve Bank. They need to be investing now in infrastructure and support regions and businesses that will create jobs and meaningful growth,” Grant Robertson says.

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