Skip to content Skip to menu
Australian Government Coat of Arms

Budget | 2014-15

Budget 2014-15
Australian Government Coat of Arms, Budget 2014-15
  1. budget.gov.au
  2. 2014‑15
  3. Budget Overview
  4. Living within our means

Living within our means

This Budget puts an end to growing debt and deficits, ensuring we will be able to live within our means, by outlining a credible path back to surplus

The budget outlook

This Budget puts Australia back on track to a credible path to surplus through significant structural measures that require a contribution from all Australians.

The sustained savings achieved mean that our budget position should strengthen over time to surpluses of well over one per cent of GDP by 2024‑25, taking into account future tax relief.

This improvement in the Budget position would see debt decline to $389 billion by 2023‑24, even when assuming future tax relief, compared to the $667 billion projected at the 2013‑14 MYEFO. This decline in debt is equivalent to $10,100 per Australian.

The significant improvement in the medium-term outlook is built on structural savings, not an arbitrary rule to cap spending.

The Government's fiscal strategy

The Government's medium-term fiscal strategy contributes to building a stronger economy by:

  • redirecting government spending to investments that boost productivity and participation;
  • reducing the Government's share of the economy over time; and
  • strengthening the Government's balance sheet over time so we are well placed to respond to any future external shocks.

Delivering on this fiscal strategy will take time. The Government has also committed to a budget repair strategy in the 2014‑15 Budget, which requires all new spending to be more than offset and all unexpected improvements in receipts and payments to be banked as improvements to the budget bottom line. These disciplines are designed to deliver budget surpluses building to well over one per cent of GDP by 2024‑25.

A clear path to surplus
This chart shows the projected underlying cash balance from 2014-15 to 2024-25 as projected at the 2013-14 MYEFO, and as projected at the 2014-15 Budget. The UCB is now projected to be well over one per cent of GDP by 2024-25, compared to deficits for the next 10 years projected in MYEFO.
Decreasing debt
This chart shows government debt projected to 2024-25 as at the 2013-14 MYEFO and the 2014-15 Budget. Budget projections see debt peaking at around $450 billion near the end of the decade, and then declining to $389 billion by 2023-24. This compares with debt increasing to $667 billion by 2023-2024 as projected at MYEFO.

Note: The charts above show 2013‑14 MYEFO projections as published.