VIEW: Westpac write in a note: "The.....>

NEW ZEALAND: VIEW: Westpac write in a note: "The Half-Year Economic and Fiscal

Update was a bit of a damp squib in the sense that it will have little impact on

our forecasts of GDP, inflation or interest rates. The highlight was a

substantial lift in planned capital spending. However, this is planned over a

period of many years. That is a wise way for the Government to run its

infrastructure program, but it means the impact on the economy will smaller than

more front-loaded spending might have been. Against a backdrop of lower GDP

forecasts and therefore lower projected revenue, there were no changes to the

operational spending allowances for upcoming Budgets."