New Zealand gov't surplus prompts debate over spending priorities

The New Zealand government's operating surplus for the financial year ending June was more than four times bigger than last year, the Treasury announced Thursday.

Treasury figures showed higher-than-expected tax revenue and below-forecast spending delivered a surplus of 1.8 billion NZ dollars (1.27 billion U.S. dollars) -- up from 414 million NZ dollars (292.07 million U.S. dollars) in the 2014-2015 financial year.

Finance Minister Bill English said expenses were under 30 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) for the first time since 2006 and net debt had stabilized at 24.6 percent of GDP.

"The outlook for the economy is positive, the government's books are in good shape and we are addressing our toughest social problems. However, we also need to bear in mind that there are a lot of risks globally and that is why it is important to get our debt levels down," English said in a statement.

However, the main opposition Labour Party said hard-working New Zealanders would be asking if the benefits of economic growth were being fairly shared.

"It is all well and good to be pleased about a surplus, but when there are children living in cars and garages, older New Zealanders in pain waiting for operations, and school funding going backwards, the government needs to take a long hard look at their priorities," Labour Party finance spokesman Grant Robertson said in a statement. Endit