A Crown accounts surplus will be welcomed by the government today, given that a deficit had been forecast at the end of last year.
Photo: RNZ /Dom Thomas
The accounts for the five months to November released by Treasury shows a surplus of $100 million because of lower-than-forecast core Crown expenses and higher-than-forecast revenue.
Treasury last month forecast a deficit of $900m for this financial year, down from a Budget forecast surplus of $1.3 billion.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson said it was a pleasing result that showed the government books were in good shape.
"The surplus and low levels of debt show the fundamentals of the New Zealand economy remain strong," he said in a written statement.
"Our careful fiscal management has resulted in low government debt, which alongside record low borrowing costs has given us room to invest an extra $12 billion to future-proof New Zealand."
Net debt remains low at 20.1 percent of GDP.