Finance Minister Bill English will release the Crown accounts on Thursday and Mr Ebert said now was a good time to talk about financial matters.
It was a good news story in this part of the world.
After a period of measured government spending - helping get the public debt trajectory under control - New Zealand had options.
''With a general election due in about a year's time, if not sooner, we can imagine there will be a big bun fight over this.''
It was not only that the latest annual government accounts would probably affirm a core operating surplus at least as much as $668million, he said.
Stronger economic growth indicators had since bolstered the chances of seeing a 2016-17 surplus greater than the 0.3% of gross domestic product (GDP) previously forecast by the Treasury.
Budget 2016 was notable in shifting its focus to repaying debt, after having seen it rise noticeably following the 2009-09 recession, the Global Financial Crisis and Canterbury's earthquakes.
There was even the intent to restart contributions to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund in 2020-21, earlier than previously scheduled.
''Still, the promise of bigger operating surpluses ahead would seem to widen the fiscal choices, including around tax cuts. On the latter, the Finance Minister was guarded at the time of the Budget - neither ruling them in nor out.''
The fiscal options should be used judiciously, Mr Ebert said. They were not a licence to spend just for the sake of boosting near-term GDP growth, as was being urged in many other countries which still had sizeable deficits on their plates, along with high and rising government debt.
As things stood, New Zealand was not in desperate need of any further stimulus.
''We also need to be conscious of what occurred in Australia when it spent the revenue from its mining-led upswing, which ultimately turned its fiscal outlook red.''
For those around the world who were urging for a splurge in public infrastructure spending in order to ''stimulate'', Mr Ebert noted New Zealand was already committing strong amounts to public infrastructure spending, partly related to population pressures.
The Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update was usually published in mid-December. That would help tie things together, especially with respect to the latest outlook for government surpluses, he said.
Looking at other data out this week, Mr Ebert said today's electronic cards transactions for September were expected to bounce 0.5% in value, following a dip in August, It could well be a bigger bounce, given a 3% rise in petrol prices on average during the month, rising consumer confidence and spending associated with the new iPhone release.
The remaining scheduled reports were jammed into Thursday.
September's job advertisements would be released at 10am. The only thing going against a further gain was they had posted seven consecutive monthly increases to August, he said.
The September Performance in Manufacturing Index was next at 10.30am and would be compared to its 55.1-point result in August. Its detail would help judge whether August's employment dip to 47.7 meant something.
The September food price index was out at 10.45am and the BNZ anticipated a 0.6% fall in prices.
The ANZ Roy Morgan October consumer confidence index was due at 1pm on Thursday. It was strong in September at 121, and more so after adjusting for the usual seasonal drag, Mr Ebert said.
Anything similar in October would maintain support for above trend growth.
Also expected this week was September's Real Estate Institute report.
''Top of mind will be whether the more stringent investor deposit rules are having a significant impact - and not just in Auckland. In this respect, the institute anecdote will be as important as the activity and price statistics.''
