Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): The Government's health-led approach to the COVID-19 pandemic and support for the economy has been reflected in the Crown financial accounts released last week. For the year to June 2021, the Crown accounts show the operating balance before gains and losses—the OBEGAL—was at a deficit of $4.6 billion. This was $10.6 billion better than had been forecast in the Budget in May. Net core Crown debt stood at 30 percent of GDP, $11.6 billion less than forecast and well below the average for advanced economies of 90 percent. In addition, the cost of servicing that debt remains very low by historic standards. With the Government's books in better shape than expected, it does give us more options to respond to the ongoing effects of the pandemic, but we cannot afford to be complacent. We are still facing elevated levels of debt and deficit for some years to come, and we will need to invest our resources carefully in response.