WELLINGTON, Dec 15 (Reuters) -
The New Zealand government is forecasting a budget deficit in the current financial year before balancing the books again in the year to June 2017.
Finance Minister Bill English said this year's deficit was due to the recent weaker economic downturn but downplayed its importance, while presenting the government's half-year economic and fiscal update.
"The books are broadly in balance, so in the immediate future we will not distinguish between forecasts of a small negative or small positive," he said.
Treasury forecasts show a budget deficit of NZ$401 million for the year to June 2016 versus a prior forecast of NZ$176 million surplus in the annual budget last May. In the year to June 2017, the surplus is forecast to be NZ$356 million versus a prior forecast of a NZ$1.476 billion surplus.