New Zealand Gives Low Income Families Extra $29 Weekly To Combat Rising Fuel Costs

New Zealand will boost payments to low- and middle-income families with children as the Middle East war drives up prices, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced Tuesday.

About 143,000 households with children who already qualify for a working families tax credit will receive an extra 50 New Zealand dollars ($29) per week. Those on welfare are not eligible for the increase.

“Those most affected by the global shockwave hitting the New Zealand economy are low and middle-income families who cannot easily avoid higher fuel costs,” Willis told reporters in Wellington.

The announcement represents the government’s first major fiscal policy response to the war in the Middle East.

Naija News gathered that a further 14,000 households will become eligible for a lower credit rate.

Meanwhile, the increased payments are set to begin on April 7 and could run for up to a year. Alternatively, the program will end if the price of the most commonly used gasoline in New Zealand drops below 3 New Zealand dollars ($1.75) per litre for four consecutive weeks, Willis said.

Due to the conflict in the Middle East, global oil supplies have been disrupted after Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, which carries a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas. The closure has triggered a worldwide energy crisis and driven up fuel costs.

New Zealand now joins other countries implementing measures to cushion citizens from the economic impact of the conflict, which has driven up fuel costs and fueled global inflation fears.

The war between Iran and the United States and Israel, which began on February 28, has killed more than 2,000 people and shaken international markets.