Finance Minister Grant Robertson says there will not be a recession caused by coronavirus, based on his current advice.
"But, this moves fast and that means that prediction could be revised in the coming weeks," he said, with the Government considering tax cuts and one-off payments for the worst case economic scenarios.
Mr Robertson told TVNZ1's Q+A with Jack Tame the current information is that the economy would bounce back from coronavirus.
"We will have very low if any growth in the first quarter, the second quarter, perhaps some growth," said Mr Robertson.
He told Auckland Chamber of Commerce on Thursday the Government is assessing three economic scenarios from the impact of coronavirus, including a global pandemic.
The Government already expected movement earlier this month, likely in the second half of the year by the impact of coronavirus.
He said the second scenario "has the domestic economy experiencing a longer period of slower growth – across the whole of 2020 – as a result of the global effects of coronavirus".
The Government would look at sector-specific initiatives to remedy losses in that case.
The third scenario was the virus becoming a global pandemic and causing a global downturn or recession.
Direct income support measures could be implemented in the third scenario, with tax cuts a possibility or one-off cash payments.
"All of those options are on the table, but it is for a scenario that at this stage we are not predicting," Mr Robertson said.
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