Fiscal strategy
Current economic conditions require a strong budget surplus, in order to:
- bear down on the inflationary pressures in the economy by reducing public demand;
- provide funding through current and future budget surpluses for future capital investment in the infrastructure, education, health and hospital needs of the nation; and
- ensure a strong financial position at a time of heightened uncertainty in the international economy.
Given these conditions, the fiscal strategy for the 2008‑09 Budget year honours the Government's commitment to:
- achieve a budget surplus of at least 1.5 per cent of GDP;
- 'bank' rather than spend revisions to tax receipts; and
- reorient spending and taxation arrangements so that new spending is fully offset by savings in existing programs.
The fiscal strategy for the 2008‑09 Budget year is consistent with the Government's medium term strategy of ensuring fiscal sustainability by:
- achieving budget surpluses, on average, over the medium term;
- keeping taxation as a share of GDP on average below the level for 2007‑08; and
- improving the Government's net financial worth over the medium term.
If www.budget.gov.au responds slowly or you are having trouble downloading a document, try one of the Budget Website Mirrors
Note: Where possible, Budget documents are available in HTML and for downloading in Portable Document Format(PDF). If you require further information on any of the tables or charts on this website, please contact Treasury.
