Latest from Government Spending

'Speaker approved funding, so I went'

Hone Harawira says he has no concerns about the Speaker looking into exactly what he did on his taxpayer-funded trip to South Africa.

MP pay rises revealed

Prime Minister John Key will get a $9500 pay rise this year and all MPs a $3500 increase under changes announced this afternoon.

Ads another waste of ratepayers' money

To the extent the public took any interest in the recent local government elections, council debt levels were a common debating point, writes Bob Jones.

Bruce Slane: Let MPs justify pay by listing what they achieve

This is the time of the year for resenting pay increases for members of Parliament, writes Bruce Slane.

Editorial: It's MP perks, not pay rates that annoy the taxpayers

Editorial: Parliamentarians would face less wrath over salary increases if they demonstrated a genuine desire to rein in other ways they spend public money on themselves.

Key tips pay jump for MPs

Prime Minister John Key has hinted the Remuneration Authority is lining up a good pay rise for MPs this year - but he believes it should be a small one.

China's economic growth rebounds to 7.8pc

Editorial: Super fund should be first in queue for spare cash

Editorial: The Govt's finances have finished the last fiscal year in much better shape than expected - so it's time contributions to the NZ Super Fund resumed.

Deficit sinks to 4-year low

The Government's deficit shrank to $4.4 billion in the year to June, the smallest it has been for four years.

Govt deficit smaller than predicted

Growth in research spending slows

Radical rethink for Budget

The economic forecasts underpinning Thursday's Budget will need to differ substantially from those the Treasury offered in its half-year update six months ago.

PSA: Government squeezing public service too hard

Govt's coffers grow as spending is kept in check

Three-quarters of the way through the Government's financial year its revenue continues to grow steadily while spending has hardly increased at all.

Government deficit smaller than forecast

The government kept a smaller operating deficit than forecast in the first nine months of the financial year, even as the cost of the Canterbury earthquakes grew.

NZ benefit numbers drop

The Government says there are 29,000 fewer Kiwis receiving benefits since the last quarter - including hundreds who had theirs cut after being caught claiming them unfairly.

Brian Fallow: 50 year forecast likely to be scary

We can expect some scary numbers when the Treasury updates its statement on the long-term fiscal position this year, writes Brian Fallow.

Crown deficit smaller than forecast

The New Zealand government had a smaller operating deficit than expected in the first eight months of the financial year as it took in more income tax than it had forecast.