P.M. BRIEFING : New Zealand Drops Fiscal Bomb
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WELLINGTON, New Zealand — The National Party government today announced it will bail out the country’s biggest bank as part of a triple economic bombshell that sent financial markets into a frenzy.
Just three days after taking office, Prime Minister Jim Bolger unveiled plans for the $380-million rescue of the Bank of New Zealand. He also said the budget will have to be rewritten and that the government will have to borrow an extra $740 million.
The truth had to be told on the economy, however shocking, he said at a news conference. “The only way we are going to get confidence back into New Zealand is for people to have figures they can believe and trust.”
Bolger has accused the Labor government, swept from power in the Oct. 27 general election, of hiding the depth of New Zealand’s economic problems.
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