The interim Financial Statements of the Government of New
Zealand for the six months ended 31 December 2025 were
released by the Treasury today. The December results are
reported against forecasts based on the Half Year Economic
and Fiscal Update 2025 (HYEFU 2025), published on 16
December 2025, and the results for the same period for the
previous year.
The key fiscal indicators for the six
months ended 31 December 2025 were overall favourable
compared to the forecast. The Government’s main operating
indicator, the operating balance before gains and losses
excluding ACC (OBEGALx), showed a deficit of $5.2 billion.
This deficit was $1.6 billion smaller than forecast. Net
core Crown debt was lower than forecast by $2.0 billion at
$191.4 billion, or 43.5% of GDP.
Core Crown tax
revenue, at $60.0 billion, was $0.1 billion (0.2%) higher
than forecast.
Core Crown expenses, at $71.4 billion,
were $1.0 billion (1.3%) below forecast, reflecting lower
spending across a range of functional
classifications.
The operating balance before gains
and losses excluding ACC (OBEGALx) was a deficit of $5.2
billion, $1.6 billion less than the forecast deficit. The
ACC deficit was close to forecast. As a result, the OBEGAL
deficit was $5.5 billion, $1.6 billion lower than the
forecast deficit.
The operating balance was a surplus
of $4.3 billion compared to a forecast surplus of $0.2
billion. The variance of $4.1 billion is due to a
combination of the OBEGAL variance of $1.6 billion noted
above, and stronger valuation gains compared to forecast on
non-financial instruments ($2.2 billion) and financial
instruments ($0.2 billion).
Advertisement – scroll to continue reading
The core Crown residual
cash deficit of $10.1 billion was $1.2 billion smaller than
forecast, largely owing to lower-than-forecast net core
Crown operating cash outflows of $0.6 billion and
higher-than-forecast net core Crown capital cash inflows of
$0.6 billion.
Net core Crown debt at $191.4 billion
(43.5% of GDP) was $2.0 billion lower than forecast. This
variance was largely due to the lower-than-forecast core
Crown residual cash deficit of $1.2 billion noted above, as
well as higher-than-forecast issuances of circulating
currency of $0.6 billion.
Gross debt at $219.6 billion
(49.9% of GDP) was $3.3 billion below forecast, largely
owing to lower-than-forecast issuances of Euro Commercial
Paper (ECP) and Treasury bills of $1.9 billion and $1.2
billion, respectively.
Net worth attributable to the
Crown at $183.7 billion (41.8% of GDP) was $4.2 billion
higher than forecast. This favourable variance largely
reflects operating balance discussed previously.
