With Budget 2024 just over a week away, and with tax relief announced as a key part of the coalition government's Budget package, Infometrics Chief Executive and Principal Economist Brad Olsen has examined some of the focus on income tax, and attempted to cost a change in tax brackets due to inflation and changes in income over recent years, providing insight into the magnitude of the possible tax changes, and also how much fiscal drag has occurred over the last decade.
With Budget 2024 fast approaching, there’s a lot more focus on tax than before. The coalition government has vowed to deliver tax relief to most households, although the final design and cost of the tax package is yet to be revealed.
The housing market has been one of the key indicators of increasing stress for households over the last few months. After a mild but short-lived rally during early and mid-2023, buyer demand has softened again, as mortgage rates remain high and expectations of interest rate cuts by the Reserve Bank get pushed further into the future.
School attendance rates have come under the spotlight recently as the coalition government has set itself lofty targets to raise New Zealand’s very poor school attendance record.
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Latest Quarterly Economic Monitor release: 16 May 2024
A deteriorating economic climate continues to make life difficult for regional economies, according to Infometrics’ latest monitoring of regional economies. The March 2024 Infometrics Quarterly Economic Monitor suggests that economic activity in the first three months of 2024 was 0.3%pa higher than at the same point in 2023, further slowing year-end growth down to just 0.2%pa – the slowest year-end growth since the original COVID-19 lockdown.
