Minister of
Finance
Thank you for the invitation to speak
today, it is great to be here. I mean that both sincerely
and literally. For this equivalent speech last year I took
part virtually, beaming in from the Beehive Theatrette with
only a socially distanced press gallery bearing silent
witness. You are a more lively and friendly crowd
already.
We have certainly come a long way since that
event, although this Budget will still be a COVID Budget in
a number of ways which I will return to shortly. When I
delivered the speech last year we were still at Level 3.