Back in the black: Australia is set to deliver a $4.1billion budget surplus next year - the first in more than a decade
- Josh Frydenberg is expecting a federal budget surplus of $4.1billion in mid-2020
- Treasurer also forecast a smaller deficit of $5.2 billion in current financial year
- Government has raked in more revenue than expected after strong jobs growth
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is expecting a federal budget surplus of $4.1billion in mid-2020, almost double the $2.2billion projected in the May budget.
He is also forecasting a smaller deficit of $5.2billion in the current financial year, more than half the original forecast of $14.5billion deficit for 2018/19.
The improvements - outlined in a budget update published on Monday - come after the government has raked in more revenue than expected, buoyed by strong employment growth and corporate tax receipts.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg's first budget update, handed down on Monday, will also show the Coalition is on track to deliver a $4.1billion surplus in 2019/20
Tax revenue will be $7.2billion higher than forecast in 2018/19, while non-tax receipts will be $1.2billion higher, bringing total revenue to $482.1billion.
The other side of the ledger has also been contributing to the results, with the government making fewer payments.
Since the May budget, total payments have decreased by $1.3billion for 2018/19 and by $3.5billion over the four years to 2021/21.
The mid-year economic and fiscal outlook confirmed Australia's economic strength, Mr Frydenberg said in Canberra.
"These are the welcome dividends of sound budget management and the government's plan for a strong economy," he said.
After the $4.1billion surplus in 2019/20 - which will be the first since John Howard was prime minister - the coalition expects to deliver more surpluses - of $12.5billion in 2020/21 and $19billion in 2021/22.
The government's predictions for the economy have also been revised, with growth expected to be 2.75 per cent this financial year, before speeding up to three per cent in 2019/20 and staying at that pace for the following two years.
The unemployment rate is projected to remain at five per cent this year, and stay that way up until mid-2022.
But the government has trimmed its wage growth forecasts by 0.25 per cent for this financial year and the next.
It's expecting 2.5 per cent wage growth in 2018/19 and three per cent in 2019/20.
"In Australia, as in other advanced economies, the response of wages to improving labour market conditions had been slower and more muted than in past cycles," the budget update states.
The statement also outlines the costs associated with policies introduced since the budget in May.
A huge boost to funding for aged care services up to 2021/22 - totalling $552.9million - was announced on Monday.
The windfall includes money to help an extra 10,000 older people with high-level care needs get support at home.
