Prime Minister John Key has reiterated New Zealand is coming out of recession but warns that the pain will be felt for some time to come.
Economic activity has been declining since the beginning of 2008. Official figures show the economy was 2.7% smaller in the March quarter than the same period a year ago.
On Wednesday Mr Key told Parliament that while the country is likely to be in its last quarter of recession, jobs will continue to be lost into next year.
"It will be some time until GDP recovers to previous levels and for most people the measure of a recession is whether or not they have a job.
"As I've said many times, unemployment will continue to rise over the next year, before peaking and beginning to fall again.
"That is the consequence of a very long recession."
Meanwhile, Mr Key ruled out the privatisation of any government assets before the next election, after reports that the energy firm Meridian was being readied for sale. Government ministers on Wednesday denied the energy company was being readied for privatisation.
