Australia’s first annual budget to sink the country into debt in almost a decade will focus on saving jobs and building new infrastructure in the face of the global economic downturn, the treasurer said.
Wayne Swan said the economic blueprint for the fiscal year ahead would also provide a “path back to surplus” but would not say when years of budget deficits in the future would end.
The deficit for the next fiscal year beginning July 1 will dip to a record 58bn Australian dollars (€32bn), according to news reports.