Second surplus in sight after revenue surge

Phillip Coorey and Michael Read

Dec 13, 2023 – 10.30am

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A tax revenue surge of almost $65 billion since May, and a $7.4 billion “delay” in infrastructure spending, has boosted the budget bottom line by $39.6 billion over the four-year forward estimates, and put the budget on track for a second successive surplus this financial year.

The mid-year economic and fiscal outlook (MYEFO), released Wednesday by Treasurer Jim Chalmers, updates the bottom line for this financial year from a $13.9 billion deficit forecast in the May budget, to a balance, or tiny deficit, of $1.1 billion.

Phillip Coorey is the political editor based in Canberra. He is a two-time winner of the Paul Lyneham award for press gallery excellence.

Michael Read is the Financial Review's economics correspondent, reporting from the federal press gallery at Parliament House. He was previously an economist at the Reserve Bank of Australia and at UBS.