The government's growth forecasts for the next five years are largely unchanged in its pre-election update from the May budget, though the latest bout of global jitters has thrown up a number of risks if the world economy goes pear-shaped.
The Treasury has kept its estimate the government's books will return to an operating surplus by 2015, even as gross domestic product grows more slowly than earlier expectations.
Finance Minister Bill English told a media briefing in Wellington that comes down to a clamp down on Crown expenditure, lower interest rates, and a pick-up in employment likely to reduce transfer payments by more, even as tax revenue fails to improve as fast as forecast.
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