Wellington | New Zealand’s new centre-right government delivered on its election promise to cut taxes in its first budget even as the Treasury Department forecast bigger deficits and a delayed return to surplus.

The tax package, worth $NZ14.7 billion ($13.6 billion) over four years, targets low- and middle-income households, and those with young children will benefit the most, Finance Minister Nicola Willis said on Thursday in Wellington. At the same time, Treasury projections show the budget deficit will widen to $NZ13.4 billion next year and won’t return to the black until 2028, a year later than previously expected.

Bloomberg