Federal budget
- The underlying budget deficit hit a record high of $63.3 billion in the twelve months to September 2010, indicating that the Government has plenty of work to do to reach its forecast deficit of $40.8 billion in nine months time. CommSec estimates that the budget deficit equates to 4.9 per cent of GDP, up from 4.2 per cent of GDP in 2009/10.
- The budget position is not yet improving with revenues still not showing signs of recovery. Federal Treasury and the Reserve Bank appear to have under-estimated the softness of the economy.
- In just under three years, the budget position has deteriorated by a massive $83 billion. Anyone who claims that Australia was unaffected by the GFC needs to look more closely at the budget numbers.
- In contrast, and much more encouragingly, GST revenues are also at record highs and are on track to meet the full-year target. GST revenues totalled a record $47.2 billion in the year to September, on track to the 2010/11 target of $50 billion.