100,000 KiwiSavers predicted by the end of this month

Finance Minister Michael Cullen says he is "absolutely certain" there will be more than 100,000 people enrolled in the KiwiSaver scheme by the end of this month.

And he told the National Party in Parliament yesterday it might be facing half a million KiwiSavers by the time of next year's election.

Dr Cullen was speaking during an economic debate which he used to highlight the Government's achievements, listing business tax cuts, research and development credits, 362,000 new jobs and the highest labour force participation rate in the country's history.

The first data on the KiwiSaver scheme was released on August 9 and showed that five weeks after its launch total enrolments had reached 92,000.

Treasury has estimated there will be about 345,000 people using it by the end of its first year.

National Party leader John Key described Labour as "an economic basket case" and said New Zealand had the worst brain drain in the developed world – 760 people a week were leaving.

He said Dr Cullen was avoiding talking about interest rates, the biggest issue facing homeowners.

Dr Key said inflation had become embedded under Labour, interest rates were among the highest in the developed world and people worked longer hours than nearly anywhere else.

- NZPA