Economic Weekly: Not much fare when the cupboard is bare
- The Budget Policy Statement from the new Government was short on policy specifics, but painted a more challenging outlook for the fiscal position
- In this year’s Budget those objectives will be enacted through tax cuts, trimming back government spending growth and seeking better value for money out of spending, and still aiming to get back into an operating surplus in a reasonable timeframe (though in that case, slightly later than what the book opening last December suggested)
- The size of the tax cuts and what form they will take are up in the air, but fiscal headwinds have reduced the leeway for the Government even as it works on reducing government spending as a share of the economy
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Mark Smith
Senior Economist
Mark joined ASB in 2017, with over 20 years of public and private sector experience working as an economist in New Zealand and the UK.
His resume includes lengthy stints at ANZ and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, and he has also worked at the Bank of England, HM Treasury and the New Zealand Transport Agency. Mark's areas of specialisation include interest rate strategy, macro-economic analysis and urban economics.
Born and bred in the Waikato, Mark studied at Waikato University where he graduated with a Master of Social Sciences, majoring in Economics.
Mark's key strengths are the ability to use his extensive experience, inquisitive nature, analytical ability, creativity and pragmatism to dig a little deeper and to deliver common sense solutions to tackle complex problems.
When not at work Mark likes to travel, keep fit and spend time with his friends and family.
- Email: Mark
