Crown falls short on operating surplus

The New Zealand government's operating surplus for the 10 months ended April 30 of $7.534 billion was $88 million below the forecast in last month's budget, the Treasury said today.

The lower surplus resulted largely from tax revenue being $157 million higher than forecast, which was offset by a $270m below forecast return from in investment income.

Total revenue for the 10 months was $43.57 billion, 8.9 per cent ahead of the same time last year, with total expenses of $36.41 billion, down 5.9 per cent on a year ago.

The final level of surplus will be determined by revaluations and accounting-related changes, which occur at the end of the fiscal year.

Net core debt, which includes that of state-owned businesses but excludes the pension funds, was $9.995 billion, $269 million lower than forecast.

The net debt level was 6.8 per cent of gross domestic product, compared with a forecast 7.0 per cent, Treasury said.

- REUTERS