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Treasurer signals budget will include ‘further measures’ to address cost of living
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says Australians will see “further measures” in the budget in just over a week’s time designed to alleviate the cost-of-living pressures for families. “We’re very focused on the structural integrity of the budget and not baking in long-term spending, particularly when it’s designed for a targeted and temporary purpose – namely to alleviate the immediate cost-of-living pressures,” he told Sky News Australia on Sunday. “That is first and foremost in our minds. “Throughout this whole pandemic we have not baked in long-term spending, what we’ve focused on is putting in place emergency fiscal support like the JobKeeper program.” Mr Frydenberg acknowledged he was trying to repair the budget. “What you’ll see in the budget in just over a week’s time is the fiscal dividend from a strong economy,” he said. “We changed our fiscal strategy, our budget strategy, when the pandemic hit – this allowed us to respond on the scale that was required. “We’ve seen the ABS come through with the latest unemployment data, and the unemployment rate is at four per cent, the lowest in some 14 years, so now is time for us to change our fiscal strategy and to see debt stabilised over the medium term and then to reduce overtime. “What you’ll see in the budget is that gross debt as a share of the economy will peak now earlier and lower than what was forecast at MYEFO as recently as December. “That is because more people are in work, paying tax, and less people are on welfare.”
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