With more debt and a larger deficit, Nicola Willis’ reputation is in tatters after her failure to return the Government’s books to surplus.

“The Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update is the rotten cherry on top of Nicola Willis’ first year as Finance Minister,” Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said.

“The damage she has done to the economy means the recession will be longer and the recovery harder.

“A series of poor decisions on her part mean that unemployment is on the rise, there are fewer jobs and a Kiwi leaves every six and a half minutes for greener pastures.

“She is also attempting to manipulate the narrative by magicking up a new way to measure the deficit, but New Zealanders will see through her spin.

“Struggling to balance the books after choosing tax cuts – on top of outrageous tax breaks for landlords and tobacco companies – she’s now looking to pick the pockets of Kiwis through sneaky new taxes to pay for them.

“The Government has no plan to grow the economy other than talking about it. That’s not how the real world works – National is out of touch,” Barbara Edmonds said.

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