Two days after Australia’s black budget, New Zealand Finance Minister Bill English has unveiled a Crown balance sheet where revenue growth runs ahead of expenses in an economy accelerating to the fastest pace in a decade. English confirmed a return to Budget surplus in 2015 at $372 million, wider than the $86 million projected in the half year economic and …

Concerns over the high cost of building materials see the government temporarily cutting tariffs and anti-dumping duties on imported building products to zero, as part of efforts to improve housing affordability. The duty cuts will include products such as plasterboard, reinforcing steel bar and wire nails, and tariffs will fall to zero for products such as roofing, cladding, insulation, paints, …

The government is to proceed with new a regime allowing start-up companies to cash out all or part of their tax losses from research and development expenditure, and to write off “black hole” R&D spending on unsuccessful projects. The announcements are expected to cost the government around $58.1 million over four years and follow a consultation process in which both …