SYDNEY (Reuters) - New Zealand's finance minister said on Thursday the Labour-led government would spend NZ$42 billion ($29.1 billion) in net capital investment over five years, with a focus on health and education.
The planned investment, to be included in next week's budget, represents a NZ$10 billion increase on the spending plans proposed by the former centre-right government, which lost office late last year.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson said investment would flow to hospitals so that they could cope with the country's growing and ageing population.
"Education will also get a significant boost to support our schools to deal with ageing buildings and ever-increasing enrolments," he said, according to a copy of the speech scheduled to be delivered in Wellington on Thursday.
The Pacific nation, with a population of just under 5 million people, has enjoyed strong economic conditions in recent years, driven by high terms of trade and robust population growth.
But the boom has also created a nationwide building crunch, leading to a spike in homelessness and strains on its health and education infrastructure.
Robertson said the government would pay down debt at a "slightly slower rate" than the previous government to pay for the infrastructure.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's Labour-led coalition has previously said it would post surpluses for the next five years and reduce net core sovereign debt to 20 percent of GDP by 2022 in its first budget, scheduled for May 17.
(Reporting by Jonathan Barrett in SYDNEY)
