Budget Reality in Australia: Smaller Revenue Increase Expected

Australia's federal budget for the year ending June 30 will show a smaller revenue increase due to global economic weakness and a slowing domestic economy, the government announced on Sunday 4th of May. Despite expectations of a budget surplus on May 14, the Labor government cautioned in March that the revenue upgrade would be less than the previous year's due to declining commodity prices and a softening labor market. It said tax receipt upgrades in the budget, excluding those from goods and services tax, were expected to be more than A$100 billion ($66.08 billion) below the A$129 billion average upgrade in the last three budgets. The anticipated result was because of weakness in the global economy, a slower domestic economy, a softening labour market and lower commodity prices, it said. "We are realistic about the challenges facing our economy and our budget – this includes not expecting the same sorts of massive revenue upgrades that we’ve seen in recent budget updates to continue," Treasurer Jim Chalmers said in a statement.