New Zealand’s economic future requires a significant shift in thinking, economist Ganesh Nana says.
The former head of the recently-disestablished Productivity Commission spoke to Q+A following a speech by a senior Treasury official warning of stark realities in the country’s economy.
Treasury chief economics adviser Dominick Stephens said forecasts of a return to government surplus by 2028, as planned by the coalition, would be driven by a decline in per capita public spending.
“The implied speed and size of this decline is generally unprecedented in recent history in New Zealand.”
Speaking to Q+A, Nana said: “That basically means the Government is going to deliver less per head of population.
“Deliver less in terms of health and education and all of those other services that most of us, sort of, took as our birth-right over the last three-five decades.”
The economist said he was worried about a “fixation” on public spending when government debt was a “relatively small proportion” of overall debt .
“I am extremely saddened that the Treasury continue to focus on the fiscal debt. Where is the connection to the external debt if they’re serious about economic structural deficit? That’s the big one.”
Watch the full interview in the video above
Q+A with Jack Tame is made with the support of New Zealand On Air
