Stats NZ has reported that the cost of living for the average New Zealand household rose by 7.7% over the last year ending in September 2022. All household groups suffered their highest annual increase in the cost of living since the index started in 2008. The household living costs price index (HLPI) is used to measure the impact of inflation on 13 different household groups and all households.
Whereas the consumer price index (CPI) rose to 7.2%, the HLPI rose to 7.7%. The CPI is used to guide monetary policy while HLPI provides insight into the cost of living challenges faced by different household groups.
According to consumer prices manager, Katrina Dewbery, housing and food were the biggest contributors to this change. Interest payments on mortgages also rose by 39% for the average household. In an attempt to tame rising inflation, the Reserve Bank increased the official cash rate by 2.75% over the last year ending in September 2022. Dewbery noted that this increase was reflected in the higher cost of mortgage interest payments. Higher-spending households were found to be the most impacted by interest payments, accounting for 7.4% of their expenditure.
The news of the rising cost of living has stirred the National Party and medical practitioners into calling for the government to do more about the health system. It is estimated that as poorer families struggle under the rising cost of essential items, they are at greater risk of being pushed into poverty which could result in higher levels of illness. Royal College of General Practitioners President, Dr Samantha Murton, said that this demographic would find it harder to eat healthily, keep their homes heated, and afford to visit a doctor when needed.
Despite Health New Zealand having announced a plan to clear planned care waiting lists, there continued to be more referrals than patients being seen, indicating that a backlog persists. National Party’s health spokesman, Dr Shane Reti, has asked the government to make immigration easier for international nurses and return to public reporting of hospital targets.
Meanwhile, ACT leader, David Seymour, has raised concern with the 10.7% annual increase in tax revenue collected by Minister of Finance, Grant Robertson. Seymour has criticised the government for absolving itself of responsibility for the cost of living crisis which he says has been heavily influenced by interest rates and taxes that are the government’s sole responsibility. He pointed to the government’s attempts to reduce inflation by raising interest rates, which were in turn the cause for the 39% increase in interest payments being suffered by average households.
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