The federal government has delivered a second budget surplus, with Treasurer Jim Chalmers to release the final budget outcome for the 2023-24 financial year later today.
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00:00This is a just over $6 billion improvement on what was forecast in May. We're now seeing
00:08this surplus at $15.8 billion. That's for the 2023-24 financial year, so the one that
00:16ended earlier a couple of months ago now. And this has largely been driven by a reduction
00:23in government spending. The government keen to point out that it hasn't been as a consequence
00:29of any increase in tax revenue, and that that has actually gone down. This is also
00:36the first back-to-back surplus in almost 20 years. Take a listen to what the Treasurer
00:41had to say this morning.
00:43The difference was explained entirely by less spending, not more revenue. We actually collected
00:49less revenue than we were anticipating at budget time, but spending was substantially
00:53down and that's what explains the bigger surplus that Katie Gallagher and I are releasing
00:59today.
01:00Well, this is good news in terms of the current picture and something that the government
01:05is seeking to flag and capitalise on. The outlook going ahead is not as rosy. The government
01:13admits that themselves as well, with a $28.3 billion deficit forecast for the current financial
01:23year. But these figures are set to reduce that somewhat. As to the degree, we may hear
01:29more around midday and we'll keep on looking at those details as well.