The New Zealand Government has unveiled its financial package to help battle fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
AT A GLANCE
• Extra spending of $12.1 billion for businesses, beneficiaries, pensioners and the health system.
• $8.7 billion in support for businesses and jobs.
• $2.8 billion for incomes support.
• $500 million for health.
• Wage subsidy for employers up to 12 weeks and up to $150,000 if they have suffered a 30 per cent decline in revenue compared to last year, $585 a week for full-timers, $350 a week for part-timers, available to all employers and self-employed.
• Leave and self-isolation support for eight weeks people with Covid-19, caring for people with it or people in self-isolation up to eight weeks at same rates as wage subsidy but not for those who can work from home.
• Self-isolation payments not available to people who leave NZ after March 16 and return.
• Permanent increase of $25 a week in main social welfare benefits after increases from indexation on April 1, likely to affect 350,000 low income families.
• One-off doubling of winter energy payment to $1400 for couples and $900 for singles, likely to affect 850,000 people.
• Families with children not receiving a main benefit but are in work will no longer have to satisfy the work test of 20 hours a week for sole parents or 30 hours for couples, likely to benefit about 19,000 low-income families.
• $50 million extra for GP and primary care and $20 million for videoconferencing consultations.
• $32 million for extra intensive care capacity and equipment in hospitals.
• $40 million for public health units mainly for contact tracing.
• $100 million set aside to support work deployment.
• Provisional tax threshold will lift from April 1 from $2500 to $5000 allowing an estimated 95,000 business to defer tax payments and possible waiving of interest on late payments.
• Reinstatement of depreciation deductions for commercial and industrial buildings at an estimated cost of $2.1 billion to 2024.
