Prestigious business publication The Wall Street Journal published key information from today's New Zealand Budget one hour before the embargo was lifted.
The Budget is provided to journalists and analysts hours before it is released publicly.
Those accessing the documents are put in a "lock-up" and barred from releasing information to the public until the embargo is lifted.
One of the reasons for this is the information in the Budget and the Finance Minister's speech often influences markets and the New Zealand dollar.
BusinessDesk reported The Wall Street Journal, headquartered in New York, published key information from the Budget before the embargo was lifted at 2pm.
The Dow Jones newswires then carried the story, providing basic details of the information that financial markets used to trade foreign exchange, bond and equities markets.
BusinessDesk said the blunder was immediately communicated to the offices of the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister.