21 Aug 2014

Key dismisses Labour, Greens plans

7:08 am on 21 August 2014

Labour and the Greens will send the country back into significant deficit if elected, Prime Minister John Key says.

Political parties are reassessing their spending promises after the an updated economic forecast, released yesterday, showed growth would be slower than predicted during the next few years.

Treasury's updated forecast, released yesterday in its Pre-election Fiscal Update, has growth peaking at 3.8 percent in the March 2015 year, compared with 4 percent predicted in May's Budget, before easing back further in the next three years.

Both Labour and the Greens said they would still be able to deliver surpluses and pay off debt under their plan.

But Mr Key said he did not believe them.

“These are people that will send New Zealand back into a significant deficit, and I think New Zealanders will be very worried about that,” he said.