Finance Minister: Labour has made “pretty significant moves” to lift productivity
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by Paolo Taruc
Judge our government on “how we lift productivity,” new Finance Minister Grant Robertson says.
Roberston defended on the government’s plan to ban non-resident foreigners from buying homes on TVNZ’s Q&A on Sunday, explaining that officials are concerned about speculation in the housing market.
“We want to lift our expenditure on research and development; we’ve got a massive focus on increasing skills, which is one of the major and most important parts of lifting productivity. And we want to get capital to those businesses that can grow, invest in infrastructure,” Robertson told TVNZ Political Reporter Corin Dann during the interview.
Dann asked Robertson if he was “crimping” on foreign investment the Minister replied saying his Government still welcomes foreign investment where it adds to the productivity of New Zealand. “Our concern is being when it’s just speculation in the housing market. That’s actually not helping New Zealand and not helping the New Zealand economy,” Robertson said.
“So, there’s still a place for foreign investment, but equally, we do want to see New Zealanders being able to make sure that they do invest in their own future, and we want to have some conversations with the Super Fund about the way in which they’ll be able to contribute”.
Robertson said supply issue would be “a carefully managed process”. “We build the affordable houses, but we also crack down on the speculation. And I think there’s been enough discussion about that in New Zealand over the last few years,” Robertson added.
According to September 2017 figures from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand Median residential property prices have risen 1.2% year-on-year to $525,000.
Excluding Auckland, median prices increased 5.7% year-on-year, while Auckland median
prices remained flat at $845,000. However, on a month-on-month basis, Auckland’s median price increased by 1.2% or by $10,000.
Related stories:
Property market still restrained
NZ property slips in popularity with Chinese buyers
Judge our government on “how we lift productivity,” new Finance Minister Grant Robertson says.
Roberston defended on the government’s plan to ban non-resident foreigners from buying homes on TVNZ’s Q&A on Sunday, explaining that officials are concerned about speculation in the housing market.
“We want to lift our expenditure on research and development; we’ve got a massive focus on increasing skills, which is one of the major and most important parts of lifting productivity. And we want to get capital to those businesses that can grow, invest in infrastructure,” Robertson told TVNZ Political Reporter Corin Dann during the interview.
Dann asked Robertson if he was “crimping” on foreign investment the Minister replied saying his Government still welcomes foreign investment where it adds to the productivity of New Zealand. “Our concern is being when it’s just speculation in the housing market. That’s actually not helping New Zealand and not helping the New Zealand economy,” Robertson said.
“So, there’s still a place for foreign investment, but equally, we do want to see New Zealanders being able to make sure that they do invest in their own future, and we want to have some conversations with the Super Fund about the way in which they’ll be able to contribute”.
Robertson said supply issue would be “a carefully managed process”. “We build the affordable houses, but we also crack down on the speculation. And I think there’s been enough discussion about that in New Zealand over the last few years,” Robertson added.
According to September 2017 figures from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand Median residential property prices have risen 1.2% year-on-year to $525,000.
Excluding Auckland, median prices increased 5.7% year-on-year, while Auckland median
prices remained flat at $845,000. However, on a month-on-month basis, Auckland’s median price increased by 1.2% or by $10,000.
Related stories:
Property market still restrained
NZ property slips in popularity with Chinese buyers
