Hon Peter Dunne's Address to 33rd International Fiscal Association (IFA) Conference
Holiday Inn City Centre, Christchurch
9am, Friday 19 March 2010
Last year when I was invited to address your annual conference, New Zealand was facing one of its greatest economic challenges since the great depression of the 1930s.
Most of our trading partners were in recession and taking urgent steps to prevent economic collapse.
In New Zealand, our own economy was shrinking, our government deficit had ballooned, businesses were closing and unemployment levels were beginning to rise to levels not seen since the early 1990s.
In this context of global economic crisis, governments around the world were faced with many challenges.
Among them was the immediate problem of preserving their revenue base while balancing the needs and expectations of households and businesses facing economic hardship.
As part of the Government’s immediate response, a $450 million package of tax assistance measures was introduced to help the smaller enterprises that make up over 95 percent of New Zealand businesses to weather the downturn.
The personal tax cuts introduced from 1 April 2009 also gave New Zealanders more money in their pockets.
Just 12 months later we appear to have come through the worst of the crisis in reasonable health. ... Read the full text of this article.
