Kiwis families continue to go backwards with food prices growing more than twice as fast as wages, National’s Finance spokesperson Nicola Willis says.

“With food prices growing 6.4 per cent in the last year and wage growth lagging well behind at 3 per cent, the cost of living crisis is deepening and Kiwis are falling further behind. These increases are eating a permanent hole in family budgets.

“Grant Robertson claimed this morning inflation is a short term challenge, but Kiwis will be experiencing the pain of this Government’s economy mismanagement for years to come.

“Thousands of Kiwis have already started voting with their feet, with the lowest net migration since 2012. We are at risk of losing many more.

“The Minister should adopt National’s plan for tackling inflation – refocus the Reserve Bank on price stability, stop adding unnecessary costs to businesses and employers, reduce the bottlenecks that are holding back growth, restore discipline to Government spending and prioritise tax relief.

“Under National’s tax plan, the average household would receive $1600 a year in badly needed tax relief. We’re calling on the Government to back our plan and finally deliver for the squeezed middle in next week’s Budget.”