Canberra

Surging personal and company tax income has driven a major improvement in Australia’s budget position, the government revealed on Wednesday.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Finance Katy Gallagher released the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO), which is delivered annually in December to update Australians on the state of the government’s fiscal performance, reports to source.

The document forecasts that the final federal budget deficit for the current 2023-24 financial year will be A$1.1 billion ($721.4 million) – down from the A$13.9 billion forecast in May.

Between 2023-24 and 2026-27, budget deficits are now projected to total A$74.5 billion – an improvement of a cumulative A$39.5 billion relative to May’s projections.

The Australian economy has shown resilience in the face of elevated inflation, higher interest rates and the volatile international environment, and is well positioned to grow more than all major advanced economies over the forecast period, MYEFO documents said.