WELLINGTON: New Zealand's finance minister on Wednesday said he expected the government's deficit to amount to as much NZ$12 billion ($9.45 billion) this year due to smaller tax revenues expected from a delay in the Canterbury earthquake rebuild.
"We're somewhere around NZ$10-12 billion by the end of the financial year," Finance Minister Bill English said on Radio New Zealand.
"With respect to the financial deficit for this current year, probably the biggest effect will be delayed earthquake expenditures," he said adding that a "couple billion" that was expected to be spent this year would be spent next year.
English's comments came after data on Tuesday showed the government operating balance to March 31 at a deficit of NZ$6.13 billion, 14.7 percent worse than forecasts released in the pre-election fiscal update last October.
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