Addressing the media today in the wake of yesterday's massive "once in a generation" Budget announcement, Finance Minister Grant Robertson defended the decision to set aside a whopping $20 billion for yet-unspecified Covid-19 response and recovery.
Even without definitive plans for the money yet in place, it's the “responsible thing to do”, he said.
The Government branded Budget 2020 the "Rebuild Budget", with a big focus on jobs and helping the country recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Robertson says the Government’s response has always been backed by analysis and the fund is designed to last for an extended period of time.
“Nobody in the world knows the full impact of Covid-19 and therefore leaving $20 billion in the fund to be able to respond as necessary is actually a responsible thing to do.”
Responding to critics who've characterised it as a political slush fund, he said that the money won’t be used for election campaigning.
The election-year Budget looks a lot different than what was anticipated before the pandemic. (Source: Other)
“What we do is focus on what is needed for New Zealand to recover and rebuild from Covid-19, and that’s what the focus will be on.
“This is the Covid-19 response and recovery fund and we will assess projects in line with what is necessary to do that,” Mr Robertson says.
He said the flexibility the Government had shown over the Covid-19 response had been important for New Zealanders.
“Having a fund like this means we can respond as necessary," he says.
Officials touted it today as the most significant economic package in NZ’s modern history (Source: Other)
He said an example would be if the Government had to put Alert Level 3 or 4 restrictions back on - “that would require some level of response”.
“We have shown our ability through this process to respond, but we owe it to New Zealanders to make sure that we are thoughtful about what further funding we put in place."
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