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- By Christopher Luxon, Prime Minister and MP for Botany
It’s been a busy first year for the Government as we push forward with our plans to ease the cost of living so you can get ahead.
We delivered tax relief and financial support to families through FamilyBoost.
Inflation is back under control and interest rates are coming down.
While many Kiwis are still doing it tough, the effects of this are starting to be felt in back-pockets and balance sheets across the country.
StatsNZ data released last week showed household living cost inflation is down to three per cent, compared to 8.2 per cent in December, 2022.
It was also encouraging to see Infometrics calculate that falling mortgage rates in the last quarter of 2024 left Kiwi households a combined $8 million a week better off.
Better still, by the end of the year, those tumbling rates are expected to mean Kiwi households will have a combined $45 million a week to spend.
That’s more money to spend on groceries, petrol, schoolbooks, and on retail purchases that will help our economy take off.
While easing inflation and mortgage rates is a step in the right direction, it’s only half the battle.
Economic growth is my sole focus this year. Last week, fast-track applications officially opened, which means we’ll get the projects we need up and running without years of unnecessary red tape.
Projects that will build infrastructure such as houses, roads, hospitals, and renewable energy.
We’re encouraging foreign investment through changes that will allow digital nomads to visit and encourage more migrants to invest here.
We are also hosting an international investment summit in March with around 100 top investors, business leaders, and construction companies so they can help fund the growth this country needs.
We’re sending a clear message New Zealand is open for business, and everything is about growth, because growth is the key to improving our incomes, our schools, our hospitals, and our way of life.
