With Alert Level 1 looking to help get the economy going again, the idea of a GST holiday to drive down prices and get Kiwis spending again is doing the rounds.
Economist Brad Olsen of Infometrics gave Seven Sharp his thoughts on the idea.
"Essentially, what we’re trying to do here is get people spending. You have to remember that during the likes of Level 3 and Level 4, Kiwi businesses collected $3 billion less than they would have last year," Mr Olsen says.
"What this is trying to do is bring those prices down and get that money going back into the economy. It will also help those on lower incomes as prices come down."
However, Mr Olsen notes the idea comes with a big price tag.
"There is no such thing as a free lunch. This is an expensive policy, but everything is at the moment.
"The Government collects a few billion dollars each month from GST, so it’s not the sort of thing they are going to just miss and forget about, but it’s an idea we need to take seriously."
The notion comes as new figures from payments provider Paymark show spending outside major centres was up 45 per cent over Queen's Birthday weekend on the previous weekend.
"Some retailers will be very pleased by the month they've had... others not so much," said Paymark sokesperson Paul Brislen.
Overall spending was still down about 1 per cent year-on-year, driven by low sales from accommodation, cafes and bars, doctors, and, especially, tourism operators.
SHARE ME