An important balance needs to be struck on welcoming more residents.

Provisional Stats NZ figures show a net migration gain of 96,200 people in the year to July, a new record.

Westpac senior economist Satish Ranchod says we need skills from abroad, but it needs careful management.

"Those people who are coming in- many of them are going to go into our essential services, like healthcare, where we need staff. That infrastructural pressure that we see from more people in the country- it's got to be balanced against the provision of services that we all need right now."

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