CONTENTS
I. Introduction
Ⅱ. Agricultural Policy
Ⅲ. Agricultural Budget
Changes
Ⅳ.
Conclusions
ABSTRACT
New Zealand started to increase agricultural subsidies to promote
agricultural export in the 1970s. Subsidy programs inevitably entailed increased
tax payer burden and financial deficit. In the early 1980s, the government
acknowledged that the level of agricultural support was unsustainable. Most
income support programs were abolished with the economic reform and the Ministry
of Agriculture and Fisheries(MAF) was restructured by reducing number of staff
members from about 5,600 to 1,000 in 2000. New Zealand could achieve the
agricultural reform without severe adverse effects because the government
introduced some transition programs for the farmers to adjust to the new
economic environment. The government participated to share people's agony of the
reform. Reform budgets are classified into contestable and non-contestable and
managed on the basis of recovering cost. New Zealand could hone it's economic
competitive edge from increasing transparency of budget
management.
