Finance Minister Grant Robertson is used to pressure, but even he might have woken up with clammy palms this morning.
He knows - along with the rest of New Zealand - that today’s Budget is a do-or-die moment for Labour ahead of the general election in October.
The circumstances couldn’t be much tougher. Inflation is still well above target rates - and the Reserve Bank has signalled it’ll stay the course until the heat comes out of the economy. A Budget lolly scramble would have the opposite effect.
At the same time, Kiwis are struggling with the cost of living; extreme weather events have left huge clean-up bills; sectors such as healthcare and education are screaming out for help; and decades of under-investment in critical infrastructure are starting to hit home.
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