Australia’s state governments drown in debt

Wednesday 19 June 2024

Justin Fabo at Antipodean Macro has done a great job illustrating the deterioration in NSW’s budget outlook following Tuesday’s State Budget:

As shown above, NSW’s general government operating balances are now expected to be in deficit over the forward estimates to 2027-28.

The next chart from Fabo, which tracks projected budget outcomes on a cash basis for the non-financial public sector at the federal, state, and territory levels, shows that the consolidated budget balance will remain firmly in deficit over the forward estimate period:

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About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.