New Zealand gov't deficit better than expected: treasury

The New Zealand government deficit for the four months to the end of October came in below forecast, putting the full-year accounts on the road to a second successive surplus, according to financial statements from the Treasury Tuesday.

Overall the fiscal results had improved from the previous year with the operating deficit of 478 million NZ dollars (317.48 million U.S. dollars) well under the 1 billion NZ dollars (664.2 million U.S. dollars) at the same time last year, and net debt relatively constant.

Core tax revenue was up by 5.8 percent while core expenses grew by 2.5 percent over that time.

The operating deficit was 687 million NZ dollars (456.3 million U.S. dollars) under the Treasury forecast in May, due to tax and other revenue coming in above the forecast.

The forecast for the current financial year was for a surplus, said a Treasury statement.

New Zealand's center-right government in October reported its first operating surplus since coming to power in 2008 for the fiscal year to the end of June.

The surplus of 414 million NZ dollars (275.02 million U.S. dollars) was equal to 0.2 percent of gross domestic product.