There's less than a month to go until the 2025 Budget is unveiled - and the Finance Minister has been clear about the goals she aims to tackle.

Nicola Willis says New Zealand has been in a significant deficit since 2019, and she's determined to get back into surplus by 2027/2028.

She explained getting the country back into surplus will help to pay down debt.

"We're borrowing every day right now to keep our hospitals, schools and police going - but we can't do that forever as a country, we need to get the books back in balance."

LISTEN ABOVE

• No surplus this year, just deficit
• 'Sobering': Govt books sink further into the red than expected
• Budget deficit $2b deeper than expected as corporate tax take falls
• Exports jump but we're still in deficit