23 Aug 2021

Economic impact of lockdown on our biggest city

From Nine To Noon, 9:07 am on 23 August 2021
Traffic on the Auckland motorway near the central city at 11.30am on an atypical Thursday morning.

Traffic on the Auckland motorway near the central city at 11.30am on an atypical Thursday morning. Photo: RNZ / Robert Smith

Aucklanders are already being warned not to expect to come out of lockdown tomorrow, when the country reaches the seven day mark.

Cabinet is meeting today to decide whether the Alert Level four lockdown is extended and the Prime Minister will reveal the decision at 4pm.

Treasury has estimated that a week in lockdown could cost the economy between $900 million and $1.5 billion.

But the Finance Minister Grant Robertson was quick to say Treasury's modelling was worst case scenario and that if the strict lockdown wasn't too long, he was confident the economy would `do well'.

Our biggest city may well be in strict lockdown longer than other parts of the country, so how will its economy fare?

Kathryn speaks with Chief Economist for Auckland Council, Shane Martin, and Infometrics economist Brad Olsen.