New Zealand’s lofty ambition to eliminate the coronavirus may pay dividends as it begins to rebuild its economy and promote itself as a safe haven for global business.
As Kiwis emerge bleary-eyed from one of the strictest lockdowns in the world, the government says its strategy of hitting COVID-19 early and hard will allow a much faster return to some semblance of normality. To hammer home the advantage, the finance minister has announced fiscal stimulus worth more than 20 percent of gross domestic product, predicting that will jump-start growth and get the jobless rate back to its pre-virus level of 4.2 percent within two years.
"Unlike most of the world, because of the success of our lockdown we now have a shot at just a regular horrible recession,” said Sharon Zollner, chief economist at ANZ Bank New Zealand in Auckland. "That is actually something to celebrate. There is a cautious optimism in New Zealand that we know what we’re dealing with now.”