Petrol tax cut extended briefly, but Grant Robertson leaves little wriggle room for new spending in 2023

Petrol tax cut extended briefly, but Grant Robertson leaves little wriggle room for new spending in 2023The Government is committing to discounting tax on petrol and subsidising public transport fares for two months longer than planned. This includes $4.5 billion of new operational expenditure in Budget 2023 and $3b in each of the next three budgets. He stressed, in his Budget Policy Statement, that “Budget 2023 will involve public agencies examining what needs can be met by reprioritising existing funding”. He said Budget 2023 would involve “difficult trade-offs” and the Government’s policy would “work in concert” with monetary policy – i.e. At the May Budget, Robertson put $5.1b towards capital expenditure in Budgets 2023 to 2025.