The Acting Prime Minister and Treasurer, Wayne Swan, has announced that the government no longer expects to meet its target of a budget surplus this financial year.
“Dramatically lower tax revenue now makes it unlikely that there will be a surplus in 2012-13,” Swan told a press conference in Canberra today.
A “sledgehammer” has hit government revenues, Swan said. “Unusual events” have weighed heavily on revenues which have been written down by $20 billion. Latest figures show a $3.9 billion revenue slump in the first four months of 2012-13.