Treasury has launched an investigation after US business news outlet the Wall Street Journal broke the New Zealand Government's Budget lock-up embargo.
The lock-up briefing is a chance for national and international media organisations, as well as economic and financial analysts, to see the Government's Budget a few hours before anyone else - all under a very strict embargo that lifts at 2pm.
But the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) breached that embargo on Thursday after it published Budget information almost an hour early.
Its published report was then carried on Dow Jones newswires, giving basic details of information that financial markets use to trade foreign exchange, bond and equities markets, BusinessDesk reported.
The WSJ's headline was 'New Zealand expects high inflation for several years, rise in unemployment'. It discussed forecasts about financial deficits, inflation and how the Government's borrowing plans will increase.
Treasury said the WSJ proactively told a Treasury official just after 1pm what had happened.
"We are extremely disappointed with this serious breach of lock-up protocol. The embargoed information made available to the 200-odd people who attended the event was both restricted and sensitive," said Struan Little, deputy secretary of Budget and public services at Treasury. "We are working with the Wall Street Journal to clarify and understand the action that led to the embargo being breached. Once we are confident that we have established the facts, we will advise the Wall Street Journal of the consequences of their actions."
Treasury said it had also launched an internal investigation on the breach, which will be overseen by its Budget Governance Group.
The group's terms of reference for this will include reviewing the existing protocols to ensure they remain fit for purpose for future lock-ups.
