Finance Minister Grant Robertson says he will spend if necessary but for now he is resisting calls to use fiscal policy to stimulate New Zealand's economy.
Economists have expressed concerns about the state of the economy as cooling domestic growth and international headwinds prompted the Reserve Bank to cut the official cash rate by 50 basis points to 1 per cent last month in an effort to encourage more investment.
"The signal I am trying to send quite clearly is that if we see further deterioration we will respond accordingly," Robertson told an Auckland crowd at the inaugural Bloomberg address today.
"And that is a statement that has been within the budget responsibility rules from day one. If there is a significant shock."
In May, Robertson gave himself more flexibility by announcing he would change the government's net debt target from 20 per cent of GDP to between 15-25 per cent by 2021-22. The move means the government can fund more spending through debt if it chooses.