FinMin Committed To Reducing Debt Long-Term, MMT Not On Agenda

Finance Minister Grant Robertson maintains now is a good time to talk about whether the country's monetary policy model is fit for purpose. However, Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) is "not something" he's "looking to take up". Speaking to interest.co.nz, Robertson said he had received a lot of correspondence from people advocating for him to reframe his thinking around debt. Yet he was "satisfied we've got the environment we need". He acknowledged his pre-Covid target of reducing net core Crown debt to 20% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was "arbitrary". However he said, "I do think managing and controlling debt is important." Asked whether the government's long-term goal should ultimately be keeping debt at a low level, Robertson said: "I think it's good for New Zealand to do that. But we can do that in such a way that continues to support social programmes and continues to support significant infrastructure investment, which we've done."

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