Our fiscal strategy strikes the right balance: Chalmers — We are repairing the budget without hurting an already weak economy, putting people under more pressure, or ignoring urgent and unavoidable spending
Our fiscal strategy strikes the right balance: Chalmers — We are repairing the budget without hurting an already weak economy, putting people under more pressure, or ignoring urgent and unavoidable spending
“This week’s FBO showed that the underlying cash balance for 2023-24 was a surplus of $15.8 billion, or 0.6 per cent of GDP. This followed a $22.1 billion surplus the year before, which was 0.9 per cent of GDP.
“For the year just gone, the budget position has improved by $72.3 billion compared with what we inherited, and the surplus is $6.4 billion bigger than the budget forecasts in May.
“The bigger surplus relative to the forecasts was entirely due to lower government spending, not higher revenue. In fact, tax receipts were down by $5.3 billion, but payments were down by $10.2 billion.
“… We have returned 87 per cent of upwards revisions to revenue since coming to government. Our predecessors returned only about 40 per cent.
“Real payments in 2023-24 grew by 2.9 per cent, which is much lower than the 4.1 per cent average under the previous Liberal government. And we’ve found $77.4 billion in savings and reprioritisations, including $12.2 billion in 2023-24, which compare to zero savings in the last budget of our predecessors.
“A surplus is not an end in itself, it’s an important way to pay down debt, take pressure off inflation and build better foundations for a stronger economy.
“Because of our efforts, gross debt was $149.1 billion lower in 2023-24 than forecast at the election, which means we avoid about $80 billion in interest costs over the decade.
“… There is more work to do, but whether it’s back-to-back surpluses, record job creation, moderating inflation or a return to real wages growth, we are making meaningful progress.”
DrSendy on
When this guy leaves politics, watch him get hoovered up onto the board of a decent sized multi-national.
2 Comments
Excerpts from [article](https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/our-fiscal-strategy-strikes-the-right-balance-20240930-p5keh8) by Jim Chalmers:
“This week’s FBO showed that the underlying cash balance for 2023-24 was a surplus of $15.8 billion, or 0.6 per cent of GDP. This followed a $22.1 billion surplus the year before, which was 0.9 per cent of GDP.
“For the year just gone, the budget position has improved by $72.3 billion compared with what we inherited, and the surplus is $6.4 billion bigger than the budget forecasts in May.
“The bigger surplus relative to the forecasts was entirely due to lower government spending, not higher revenue. In fact, tax receipts were down by $5.3 billion, but payments were down by $10.2 billion.
“… We have returned 87 per cent of upwards revisions to revenue since coming to government. Our predecessors returned only about 40 per cent.
“Real payments in 2023-24 grew by 2.9 per cent, which is much lower than the 4.1 per cent average under the previous Liberal government. And we’ve found $77.4 billion in savings and reprioritisations, including $12.2 billion in 2023-24, which compare to zero savings in the last budget of our predecessors.
“A surplus is not an end in itself, it’s an important way to pay down debt, take pressure off inflation and build better foundations for a stronger economy.
“Because of our efforts, gross debt was $149.1 billion lower in 2023-24 than forecast at the election, which means we avoid about $80 billion in interest costs over the decade.
“… There is more work to do, but whether it’s back-to-back surpluses, record job creation, moderating inflation or a return to real wages growth, we are making meaningful progress.”
When this guy leaves politics, watch him get hoovered up onto the board of a decent sized multi-national.