The Reserve Bank has lowered its growth forecasts again as economic indicators continue to show New Zealand's economy is underperforming, National Party Finance Spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.
"The Reserve Bank is increasingly pessimistic about the future due to this Government's refusal to implement any kind of economic plan to restart economic growth.
"This Government needs to stop blaming President Trump and everyone else and take responsibility for the things it has done to slow the economy.
"A slower economy means few opportunities for Kiwis to get ahead.
"The Reserve Bank started this year picking 3.0 per cent growth for 2019, it is now only expecting 2.0 per cent.
"This is despite New Zealand's terms of trade being near record highs.
"Losing this amount of economic growth is worth almost $3 billion to New Zealanders.
"Today's decision to leave the OCR at its record low of one per cent surprised the market, but monetary policy can't do everything on its own.
"Finance Minister Grant Robertson deliberately leaving all the heavy lifting to the Reserve Bank to continually cut interest rates leaves nothing in the tank for a rainy day.
"Now it's the Government's turn to make some pro-growth economic decisions.
"The Reserve Bank noted in its comments that, 'Potential GDP growth appears to be softer than previously thought, meaning that the pick-up in growth is less pronounced than projected in the August Statement'.
"New Zealanders are paying the price for Labour lacking any sort of plan for growth. They cannot afford this Government."
