Standard & Poor's are quick off the market after the New Zealand budget:

  • While the budget contains some write-downs to revenue growth over the four years to June 2019 - due mainly to a weaker outlook for inflation and wages growth--the impact on government fiscal deficits is relatively modest.
  • We still expect fiscal deficits to gradually narrow over the next few years, although rather than achieving a broadly balanced budget in fiscal 2017, the government now appears likely to achieve this a year or so later.
  • We continue to expect the country's general government net debt to remain low,
  • Our ratings on New Zealand reflect the country's economic resilience, fiscal and monetary policy flexibility, mature and stable public policy settings, and sound financial sector. Moderating these strengths are New Zealand's very high external imbalances

Moody's:

  • Budget shows steady fiscal improvement, even with 2015 deficit
  • Budget shows a continuing positive trend in the government's finances, reflecting good underlying economic fundamentals
  • Budget supports Aaa rating and stable outlook
  • NZ debt is low compared with other AAA-rated sovereigns