New Zealanders continue to get poorer under the Labour Government with figures today showing the largest food price increase in five years, National’s Finance spokesperson Simon Bridges says.

“Kiwis are having to fork out even more just to put food on the table. With pay packets failing to keep up, many New Zealanders will be dreading the grocery shopping.

“This is the highest annual food price increase in a decade. There is no doubt Kiwis are going backwards under this Government and it’s those on the lowest incomes who are disproportionately doing it tough.

“Food prices show the lie in Grant Robertson’s ‘it’s all international’ inflation story.

“In the last quarter, domestic inflation grew faster than the international components did. Most of the country’s economists have warned of the significance of home-grown factors in our inflation and that high inflation is likely to be more long lasting than originally thought.

“At a time when families and businesses are having to tighten their belts, Grant Robertson is planning to increase government spending to a massive 68 per cent at $128 billion, with $6 billion in new spending.

“The Government should listen and bring its spending under control so that New Zealanders don’t keep falling further and further behind.”