Plans to suspend contributions to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund until 2020 are a short-term action and could bring long-term pain, says consulting, outsourcing and investments firm Mercer.
The Government is taking a look at the risks and performance of the assets and liabilities in its huge balance sheet.
The New Zealand dollar rose on news that credit rating agency Standard & Poor's has upgraded the outlook on New Zealand's credit rating to stable from negative.
Reviews of departmental spending have found $2 billion in cuts over the next four years which Finance Minister Bill English says will be ploughed back into areas the Government feels are of higher priority.
With buildings and equipment in need of repair and trouble recruiting and retaining staff the Defence Force will welcome a $52 million boost next year.
The business community is welcoming the Government's "no surprises" budget though some said it was not tough enough.
Unions say the Government's budget does nothing for workers facing escalating unemployment.
The Government and Green Party may be taking all the credit but the Maori Party was just as involved in the creation of the home insulation package, co-leader Tariana Turia says.
Double bunking of 1000 more prisoners scares the prison officers' union and will see more officers move to Australia, it says.
Finance Minister Bill English likes to run. Distance, that is, not sprints.
The Government has reined in spending and scrapped tax cuts in a budget it says will bring debt under control and set New Zealand on the road to recovery.
Bill English's first budget is "as inadequate as a lone chopstick" says a privately funded think-tank, the New Zealand Institute.
Labour launched a fierce attack on the Government when the budget debate began in Parliament.
International credit rating agency Standard and Poor's has cast a favourable verdict on the budget, upgrading New Zealand's outlook from negative to stable.
The slashing of the civil service has not extended to Treasury, the department which advises the Government on financial matters.
The mid-term spending forecasts in the budget show that unless the economy improves soon the 2011 election year budget could be one of the grimmest ever.
While other sectors are having their belts tightened health has been given a $3 billion injection.
The chilling winds of global recession will push thousands of people out of work and more than double the length of the dole queue over the next two years, Treasury predicted today.
Measures implemented by the National-led government in 1990 and 1991 to move New Zealand out of recession are being considered by the Government.
There might be some surprise at the amount of money to be spent on insulating homes in this Thursday's budget, Prime Minister John Key said today.
