New Zealand releases jobs budget to get economy moving again

WELLINGTON - New Zealand released Budget 2020, "Rebuilding Together," on Thursday, which established a 50 billion New Zealand dollars ($30 billion) COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund.

The fund targets stimulus investment to protect existing jobs, create new ones and provide support for workers to retrain and for business to survive. It also supports those sectors most affected by the virus.

Investments to both save and create jobs in Budget 2020 mean unemployment can be back to pre COVID-19 levels within two years and could see the economy growing again as early as next year, said a government statement.

"The government's decision to go hard and early to defeat the virus means we are now in a strong position to quickly get our economy moving again," New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in the statement.

"We will bring the same determination and focus to jobs and the economic rebuild as we brought to our health response," Ardern said.

The COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund will deliver major investments in jobs such as making certain trades training and apprenticeships free, the delivery of 8,000 new public houses and extending the food in school programs to up to 200,000 children, she said.

"We united as a team of 5 million to stop the virus and we will now work together to collectively save jobs," Ardern said.

"New Zealanders have made incredible sacrifices and suffered incredible loss in our collective battle against COVID-19. It is vital that Budget 2020 builds on restoring independence in every sense, to every day New Zealanders by creating jobs for those who have had them stripped away by this viral invasion," said Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters.

This means record investment in infrastructure, health care, education, and the regions, he said.