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National finance spokesperson Nicola Willis.

An election-year tiff about policy spending highlights the need for an independent watchdog to weigh in on the country's big, expensive problems, an economist says.

On Sunday, National finance spokesperson Nicola Willis unleashed on Labour, claiming the opposition was $18.2 billion short on funding for its promised policies.

Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds fired back, labelling National "desperate" for producing the document it called 'Labour's Hidden Bill'.