ANALYSIS: Looking at Nicola Willis’ Budget announcement, you’d be forgiven for thinking we aren’t in what’s shaping up to be a tight election year.
There were certainly no lollies distributed in a bid to win votes. This was a tough love Budget, focused on bringing the country back into surplus.
“Now is not the time for promises of reckless spending,” Willis said.
Any fresh spending will be funded by cuts elsewhere. There were no changes to any of the tax brackets, which means Kiwis won’t be seeing any difference to their pay cheques.
But that’s not to say the Budget was meaningless. Far from it.
