Prime Minister John Key will set out the next steps in the Government's economic programme in a speech today.

He said yesterday the Government's focus this year would be on savings and investment.

"We need to increase our national savings so we can control our destiny as a country," he said at his post-cabinet press conference.

"Our high level of foreign debt is New Zealand's biggest vulnerability."

Mr Key said his speech, and the one he would give when Parliament resumes on February 8, would show the difference between the Government's fiscally responsible approach to creating a sound economy and Labour leader Phil Goff's proposals.

Mr Goff made his "State of the Nation" speech yesterday, announcing polices including a tax free zone for the first $5000 of income.

While Mr Goff is promising $10 more a week, eyes are on John Key's cabinet which is about to decide the minimum wage, last year it put it up by 25c.

“My guess is there is likely to be a modest adjustment, but one that reflects the economic conditions of the time,” Mr Key said.

But the Labour Party wants the wage to go to $15 and some unions want it to go higher.

“An immediate increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour would both help low income workers with rising costs and delivers a fiscal stimulus to a slow economy,” said National Distribution Union (NDU) general secretary Robert Reid.

The NDU has made the case for a minimum wage of $17.22 in its submission to the Minister of Labour at the end of last year, equating to two-thirds of the average wage, Robert Reid said.

The minimum wage is currently $12.75 an hour.

(Source 3 News / NZPA)