The Crown accounts have shown increasing surpluses being forecast on the back of increased tax takes.
While the latest accounts will still review the actions of the past government and its financial decisions, new Finance Minister Grant Robertson will get a chance to talk today about how his spending might be financed from any ongoing surpluses.
The Government has hinted at a mini-Budget before Christmas and the opening of Parliament tomorrow could be an opportunity for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to give a better indication of the timing for the new spending plans.
The Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to leave its official cash rate (OCR) at 1.5%.
ASB chief economist Nick Tuffley said the RBA had sounded more upbeat on the domestic economy in recent speeches and publications.
However, given the current lacklustre wages growth and softer-than-expected September-quarter inflation, it appeared the Australian central bank would not be lifting rates any time soon.
There had been a solid increase in loans to Australian owner-occupiers, indicating some switching from investor lending could be under way, he said.
Total lending over September was expected to show a modest rise. Overall lending had been trending lower. Australian Prudential Authority rules changes were set to continue limiting loan growth. Higher interest rates to investors were also tempering demand, Mr Tuffley said.
The New Zealand Reserve Bank was expected to keep its OCR rate at 1.75% on Thursday and was facing an outlook of many moving parts.
Remaining uncertainties over the policy outlook made November an awkward time to deliver a set of forecasts.
``The change in Government will bring a range of new policies that will likely tweak the economic outlook. But it is too soon for the Reserve Bank to properly assess the economic and inflation impacts.''
The incoming Government had announced a review of the Reserve Bank Act and the Policy Targets Agreement. The central bank was about to present a set of forecasts fully aware the economic forecasts would change, and the bank's own objectives and the way it set monetary policy could change, Mr Tuffley said.
``Given the messy outlook, the Reserve Bank is best to keep the policy assessment similar to previous statements - emphasise interest rates will remain low for a prolonged period and highlight the many uncertainties on the outlook.''
Prices at the GlobalDairyTrade auction were expected to move higher overnight. Two weeks ago, whole milk powder prices fell by 0.5%. Futures pricing suggested prices would be either flat or rise by up to 2%, he said.
In the past few months, global dairy prices had fallen. ASB expected recent poor weather had led to weak production and, therefore, rising prices in coming auctions. When combined with the global butter shortage, prices were expected to continue to rise heading into the new year.
Electronic card spending had been soft in recent months. New spending in September was 0.9% lower than in April and the 2.4% annual spending growth was the slowest since 2009.
The latest figures would be out on Friday and the ASB expected increases of 0.4% month-on-month and 0.2% for retail and core spending.
Generally cloudy and wet weather, election-related uncertainty and the moribund housing market were likely to limit potential upside to spending.
The prospect of higher wages and more generous government support should underpin moderate rates of retail sales growth for the next two years. But the days of spending running ahead of income growth looked to be in the past, despite resilient consumer sentiment, Mr Tuffley said.
