Qld Budget 2020: Question of state debt remains unanswered

It’s the big mystery over Queensland’s finances, and it won’t be resolved until the State Budget is handed down on December 1.

Queenslanders will need to wait until December 1 to find out whether the state will be plunged further into debt.

Treasurer Cameron Dick has again refused to reveal whether the State Government would borrow more than the $4 billion its previously committed to.

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“We said during the election we’ll be having to fund the deficits, the only way you can fund deficits, and I said we’ll be delivering deficits over four to five years, the only way you can fund deficits is by borrowing so we’ve made that clear we’ll have to borrow to fund deficits,” he said today.

Treasurer Cameron Dick.

“But that’s important, we’re not going to cut services, we’re not going to have some mad rush to deliver a surplus.”

Asked how much extra the Government would be borrowing, Mr Dick said, “You only have 12 days to wait”.

Mr Dick will hand down his first Budget on Tuesday, December 1 after delivering the COVID-19 Fiscal and Economic Review in September.

Debt will climb to nearly $102 billion by the middle of next year.

Originally published as Qld Budget 2020: Question of state debt remains unanswered