KEY POINTS:
The Government budget surplus in the 10 months to April 30 was $600 million better than forecast mainly due to returns from investments being $800m above forecast, Treasury said today.
The operating surplus was $3.1 billion in the period while the cash surplus was $738m against the forecast of $561m.
Corporate tax was $300m higher than forecast with higher than expected assessments lodged in April. Treasury said this was expected to have a positive effect on the year-end result.
GST was $600m lower than forecast mainly due to a change in GST dates, with the payment date moved from April 28 to May 7. Some large GST transactions had not yet been processed.
Those with payments due tend to wait until the last date while those owed refunds claim early, Treasury said.
Refunds processed in April were also affected by strong export growth and some large, one-off transactions.
Net Crown debt was $1.7 billion against the forecast of $2.1 billion and when the New Zealand Superations Fund is included, there was an $11.4 billion surplus against a $10.6 billion forecast surplus.
- NZPA
