GDP: Covid chickens come home to roost

“Today’s disappointing GDP figures show the Government’s Covid chickens have come home to roost,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“It’s only due to the hard work of New Zealanders that today’s GDP figures aren’t worse.

“GDP has declined by 2.9 percent over the year to December 2020, the largest annual fall ever.

“The Government’s myopic and mediocre response to Covid-19 of locking down and borrowing money hasn’t worked.

“We’ve killed off two of our five biggest export industries. The Government has instead resorted to printing money and inflating house prices.

“No country ever got rich by printing money – that’s Venezuelan policy.

“Since August, ACT has pushed for a more intelligent response of working more closely with the private sector, adopting new technology more quickly, and continuous improvement.

“The Government has dragged the chain on every count.”