Labour’s Budget vs Labour’s fiscal plan

The Herald reports:

A comparison of Labour’s campaign fiscal plan with its first Budget shows things are not tracking quite as Labour planned during the campaign, something it put down to its coalition agreements and higher costs than expected.

Analysis by NZ Herald data journalist Keith Ng shows total Crown spending is forecast to be almost $12.5 billion higher over the five years to 2021/22 than Labour forecast in the “fiscal plan” it campaigned on in the last election.

Labour campaigned on its fiscal plan against criticism from National that it had not allowed enough to cover the costs of its policies as well as increases in Government spending such as wage increases.

And that criticism has been proven justified. Labour have been saved by the fact the economy they inherited is so booming that extra tax revenue has saved them.

Despite increases in the Budget the forecast spending on health was currently $3.35 billion lower than in Labour’s plan while education was $3.26 billion lower over the next five years.

So they’re spending extra on MFAT and regional slush funds and less than promised on health and education.