Watch live: Christopher Luxon speaks to media as inflation worsens

NZ Herald

7 days ago

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will hold his weekly post-Cabinet Press conference at 4pm today.
The press conference will be livestreamed at the top of this story.
It comes as new figures today showed inflation rose 2.7% in the 12 months to June.
Economists had forecast a rise of 2.8 or 2.9%.
Lower petrol prices helped mitigate rises in other areas, such as food.
Economists now think the Reserve Bank will be able to resume interest rate cuts in August - although some economists believe inflation will keep rising.
ASB senior economist Mark Smith said the 'figures did not change our core view that the increase in annual CPI inflation has further to run'.
'We still expect annual CPI inflation to move above 3% in the September 2025 year,' he said.
Political parties battled over the inflation figures.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis celebrated the fact inflation remained in the 1-3% range targeted by the Reserve Bank.
She said the Government was 'paying attention to forces that affect their cost of living'.
Willis highlighted the fact the largest single contributor to annual inflation was local authority rates and payments, which rose 12.2% in the year.
'That's why this Government has also been clear in its call to councils to focus on the basics and keep rates under control.
'We look forward to councils taking heed of this and playing their role as stewards of ratepayers' money better in the future,' Willis said.
The coalition has discussed capping council rates, restricting how much they could increase rates by each year.
Labour's Finance spokeswoman Barbara Edmonds said the Government was 'making excuses'.
'Labour will prioritise help with the cost of living, and proper investment in jobs, health and homes,' she said.
However, in a media stand-up Edmonds was unable to identify any specific Labour policy for tackling the cost of living.
She also refused to take a position on rates capping, saying Labour's caucus was yet to consider that.