Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): The manufacturing sector has remained robust in a challenging environment. The seasonally adjusted BNZ - Business New Zealand Performance and Manufacturing Index for May rose 1.7 points to 52.9, just below its long-term average. Production, new orders, employment, and delivery of raw materials all expanded, and BNZ's economists said that manufacturing output in the first three months of the 2022 year had been affected by Omicron-induced delays and the improvement in production signalled a decent rebound in manufacturing in the June quarter. The volatile global environment means 2022 is continuing to be challenging for businesses and households, but New Zealand's strong response to the pandemic has put us in a position where we can come through better than most other countries and are well positioned to deal with the challenges ahead of us.