Nicola Willis blames 'Trump spike' for high inflation

The Finance Minister says US President Donald Trump is to blame for New Zealand's rising inflation.StatsNZ figures released on Tuesday showed annual inflation lifted to 4.1 percent, the highest level in more than two years as fuel prices surged due to the US-Iran war.Nicola Willis said the figures reflected the international oil shock, which the government could not control."What they show was the Trump spike in inflation, driven by higher petrol and diesel prices," she said."New Zealanders have already experienced this at the pump, and we know that it's been a very difficult period for many."Willis said without higher fuel prices, inflation would have been within the target band, at 2.9 percent."That is an encouraging sign that the underlying factors driving inflation are being better controlled by our government," she said.However, it was not only fuel prices driving inflation. There were also annual jumps in electricity prices (12 percent) and rates (9 percent).Willis said the government was doing everything it could to keep costs down for New Zealanders, including introducing rates caps."We do not accept that the level of rate increases that New Zealanders have had to put up with in recent years is acceptable, and we are acting to prevent that happening in future," she said.On electricity, Willis said the government was consenting more renewable generation, which would bring down households' prices in future.Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds blasted Willis for pinning high inflation on uncontrollable factors."She just continues to blame everybody else but take no responsibility for some of those other underlying costs, such as government costs, that has increased by 21 percent over the last two years," Edmonds said."GP fees have also gone up by over 20 percent. Those are all factors that she could have looked at in the last two years but decided to pass those costs on to everyday New Zealanders."Edmonds said she was holding Willis to the same standard as Willis held former Labour finance minister Grant Robertson to."Which is, you can't just blame everything on overseas factors, you've got to take some work yourself."