English positive about economy

Don't wait around for the economic doom and gloom overseas to end - if you have a good idea go for it.

That was the message from Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bill English at a Rotorua Chamber of Commerce lunch in Rotorua last week.

For the third year running, Mr English was in Rotorua to speak about his recent Budget and how it fitted within the Government's plans and the broader economic picture.

He advised local businesses not to be distracted by the troubles in Europe and the United States, but to focus only on the things they could control.

"If you are thinking about any decisions to help you grow don't read the newspaper or watch the TV. It is a whole lot of bad news that is not relevant to your decision."

He highlighted several reasons why businesses could be positive about the direction of the New Zealand economy.

"We're heading to two to three per cent growth over the next couple of years," he said. "The economy is going to pick up gradually, moderately, better than most other developed countries."

He said New Zealand was lucky enough to be on the doorstep of the fastest growing economies in the world, pointing to the rapid growth of the middle class in Asia. He also praised the resilience of New Zealanders, saying we were getting better at dealing with challenging times.

"When things got tough this time we didn't go off on a national 'whinge fest' - people just got on with understanding what happened, changing what they were doing to adapt."

With household debt three times the size of government debt, Mr English said it was good to see household savings on the increase.

"They're [households] scared of having too much debt, they're a bit worried about job security. They want a buffer, they want their credit card paid off, their overdraft down, their mortgage a bit smaller."

He said for the first time in a generation, New Zealand was reducing its debt and "that is the best thing that's happening in New Zealand".

In addition to reducing the surplus, Mr English said the government's main focus was on encouraging business growth.

This included the partial sale of energy companies which, he said, would get the stockmarket growing and give New Zealanders the opportunity to invest as well as allowing the Government to borrow $5 billion to $7 billion less.

With the legislation due to be passed, Mr English expected debate around the issue to soon move on.

"I think you will see the public discussion move away from why is the government selling to why should I buy?" he said. "We're going to have Kiwis at the front of the queue and we will expect it to be 85-90 per cent owned by Kiwis by the time we get through the process."

He said with the emotion surrounding the issue people had forgotten that 51 per cent of Mighty River Power would be kept by the Government. Mr English noted no other party except for New Zealand First had promised to buy the energy company back, despite their protestations over the sale.

Minister for Economic Development Steven Joyce spoke further with Rotorua business people and investors at a business roundtable in the city on Friday.