Already a subscriber?Treasurer Jim Chalmers has confirmed the budget will be in surplus for this financial year as he moves to firewall the government against any responsibility for another possible interest rate increase.
“Some softness in our tax take, when compared to payments, might still result in a surplus that’s a bit smaller or a bit bigger than we forecast in the budget,” he will say, according to speech notes.“But whatever the final result, it’s already clear that delivering back-to-back surpluses for the first time in nearly two decades is the right thing for our economy, for interest costs in the budget, and as a buffer against global uncertainty.
The opposition has been piling on in parliament to create the perception that the next increase will be the government’s fault.