New Zealand's Finance Minister Grant Robertson said on Monday that the new wage subsidy scheme is forecast to cost about NZ$510 million ($333.80 million) and cover 470,000 jobs.
The scheme was announced last week after New Zealand locked down its biggest city, Auckland, following new cases of coronavirus.
"The new wage subsidy will help support cashflow and confidence," Grant Robertson said in a statement.
He said the mortgage deferral scheme was also being extended to March 31 next year from its current end-date of Sept 27.
($1 = 1.5279 New Zealand dollars)
(Reporting by Praveen Menon; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
