“Essentially the NZ Government helped fund the Chorus ultrafast broadband rollout ... What we’re exploring in the market as announced today is whether someone else wants to buy those securities.”
Willis also discussed energy, tariffs, immigration, and deregulation.
She said previous regimes stifled growth with excessive red tape but insisted her Government was ambitious.
She told the Bloomberg Policy Series event many exporters were shocked at the Trump administration tariffs imposed in April but had since adjusted.
“Sentiment was affected by the sense of uncertainty that created.”
Willis said the horticulture, red meat and dairy sectors were benefiting from strong demand.
She said New Zealand had one of the best renewable energy sectors in the world but would need ongoing investment in “firming” capacities to back up any hydro-electric shortfalls.
On geopolitics, she said New Zealand was safe and with no enemies on its borders.
“New Zealand has a lot of what the world will be looking for in the coming decades.”
Willis praised the tourism sector.
But she said the visa system for immigrants could be improved, and her regime had introduced new skilled migrant pathways in response to concerns from the business sector.
“We have rebalanced immigration to the high skills and business acumen we need.”
She said 70% of new migrants were now highly skilled, up from 40% at some unspecified previous time.
She said the Government was working on two new bills to replace the Resource Management Act (RMA) and help fast-track big infrastructure projects.
“We’re making sweeping changes to the 30-year-old planning legislation, the RMA.”
On the budget deficit forecast set to widen, and whether a surplus in 2028 was still possible, she said: “That continues to be our fiscal goal”.
Willis said tackling spending by slashing social services in “one fell swoop” would likely produce many unpleasant effects.
Net Crown debt was steady at 41% of GDP, she said.
“While there have been some downside surprises on forecasts recently, the real numbers are coming in more solid.”
Superannuation and health would be the most influential drivers of Government spending in future, she said.
There was still no desire for a capital gains tax, Willis said.
“The parties that want to raise a capital gains tax will also want to waste the money on something else.”
Such a tax would send a negative message to people overseas thinking about investing in New Zealand, she said.
Willis took a swipe at predecessors.
She said the economy “overheated” under Grant Robertson, and former Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr made no secret of engineering a recession with a rapid rise in interest rates.
Willis said the Reserve Bank handled the aftermath of Orr’s resignation and questions about his $416,120 “restraint of trade” payment badly.
“They should have been much more open and transparent.”
She was asked what had gone wrong with her own Government’s economic stewardship.
She replied: “It would have gone right by next year. And that’s when the voters decide”.
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