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NEW ZEALAND'S economic performance in recent~years has been keeping up with most western countries, including Australia, but Treasury secretary Alan Bollard is less than certain that it can get superior growth in the future.
The Government aims to get New Zealand back into the top half of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development rankings, by growing faster - about 4 per cent a year.
In 1974, New Zealand was sixth in the OECD in gross domestic product a person, but had slid to 20th by 2000.
Finance Minister Michael Cullen issued Treasury briefing papers aimed at the top two items on the Government agenda - how to lift economic growth and get the best value from the public sector.
Asked how confident he was of New Zealand reaching the 4 percent target, Dr Bollard said: "It is yet to be seen... it is open-ended.
"It could be more than 4 per cent (economic growth) but I'm confident that is exactly the right target for us to aim for."
In the five years to the end of 2003, the average growth rate in New Zealand would be 3.3 per cent, compared with 2.6 per cent across the OECD.
"We are doing okay. Remove the etfects of the drought and we are probably tracking alongside Austraha [growth rates]," Dr Bollard said.
To get faster growth the Government had to make sure smaller companies could grow more quickly, create a climate for innovation and ensure companies could get over the hurdle of adding value to our mainly commodity-based exports, Dr Bollard said.