New Zealand prime minister calls election

WELLINGTON, New Zealand, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark has called a general election for Nov. 8, pitting her incumbent Labor Party against John Key's National Party.

Clark, who is seeking a fourth term, is banking that recession-hit voters will begin feeling the benefits of recent tax cuts and lower interest rates, the Financial Times reported Friday.

Key said his party soon would release a tax policy giving New Zealanders fresh ideas and a brighter future, the Times said.

On Thursday, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand sliced its benchmark rate by 0.5 percent while government officials predicted the economy was likely to contact for the third quarter ending with September, the Times reported.

In a recent poll by The New Zealand Herald, Clark's party trailed Key's party by 14 percent, the Times said.