24 Jun 2015

Govt unfazed by KiwiSaver enrolment drop

5:08 pm on 24 June 2015

A reported drop in the number of new KiwiSaver enrolments following its scrapping of the $1000 kickstart payment is not worrying the Government.

Bill English during caucus run 23/06/2015

Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson

The Labour Party said new enrolments for the ANZ Investments KiwiSaver scheme had plunged by 50 percent since the payment was axed in last month's budget.

Finance Minister Bill English said some uncertainly following the announcement was expected.

"The advice we had in making the decision was that in the long-run it wouldn't make a significant difference because the incentives in the scheme with the Government subsidy and the employer subsidy are pretty strong."

Mr English said the $1000 kickstart was only worth about 2 percent of savings at the age of 65, so it would make little difference to people's savings.

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