New Zealanders can be pleased we are in a relatively strong position to invest and support the economy but we still need clarity around the path out of lockdown, National’s Finance spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

“As credit ratings agency Moody’s has noted, New Zealand is in a strong position to support the economy through the economic crisis. This is thanks to the work of successive governments, including the previous National administration’s efforts to get the Government’s books back into surplus after the Global Finance Crisis and Canterbury earthquakes.

“It is worth noting many of initiatives taken to return the country to surplus were opposed by current Government parties.

“The question now, however, is not what we’ve inherited, but what is the path out of the economic hole we are in.

“As we come out of lockdown, the challenges are how best to stimulate the economy and how we can operate productively in the 2-metre world.

“We need to get some life back into our economy. Unemployment has already risen by 30,000 in the space of a month and Treasury estimates economic activity will be 25 per cent below normal under level 3.

“We don’t what to be at Level 3 any longer than we need to be.

“Businesses can’t afford to wait two weeks to find out whether New Zealand will leave the highly restrictive level three. They need clarity now on what the path to recovery looks like or more businesses will fail and more jobs will be lost.”

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