Voters divided on who runs economy best

Voters are evenly divided on which of the two main parties is best at managing the economy.

A Fairfax-ACNielsen poll published in today's Dominion Post newspaper gave Labour 38 per cent and National 37 per cent.

Political scientist Raymond Miller said the results appeared to be in line with what polls were saying about the closeness of the election race between National and Labour.

Latest polls show Labour with a slight lead, but it is within the margin of error of the surveys.

Finance Minister Michael Cullen said the economy poll was not a bad result for Labour, given the credentials of National's leader Don Brash as a former Reserve Bank governor.

National's finance spokesman, John Key, said the questions voters would be asking themselves was which party had the best set of policies to really unlock New Zealand's potential.

The poll questioned 1190 voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 per cent.

- NZPA