Treasurer Jim Chalmers has revealed the federal budget will get a multibillion-dollar boost from higher commodity prices, despite growing concerns about the global economy and increasing pressures to meet unavoidable spending demands.
Iron ore prices remain more than double those expected in the October budget, delivering extra revenue.The better outlook was due to higher commodity prices, a stronger jobs market boosting wages and lower than expected unemployment. The single largest improvement, worth $42.2 billion, was expected in the current financial year, with Chalmers forecasting larger deficits in 2024-25 and 2025-26.
“There will be billions of dollars of unavoidable spending where programs have not been budgeted for even though every single Australian would assume that they will continue indefinitely,” he said. “That will be a big spending item in the budget.” Despite the surge in migrants, he said the net intake of people from overseas would be lower than had been expected pre-COVID.
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