Politics with Michelle Grattan: Jim Chalmers warns rising debt bills are set to hit the budget
The treasurer says there’s ‘likely to be billions of dollars extra’ in higher bills on government debt in December’s budget update.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers warned that Australia's next budget update, delivered before Christmas, will face significant challenges due to rising debt bills and higher interest costs. Australia holds more than A$1 trillion in debt, and the mid-year economic and fiscal outlook (MYEFO) will likely include additional billions in borrowing costs.
While Chalmers noted that Australia is better positioned than other countries in terms of debt levels, he emphasized that the mid-year update will face the detrimental impact of higher bond yields on the budget. Despite mixed long-term forecasts, Chalmers expressed cautious optimism about Australia's future, acknowledging both the challenges and the country's strengths.
He also discussed the government's decision to tighten migration measures and reaffirmed his stance that immigration is beneficial to the economy, provided it is managed responsibly.
Written by urgent.news from The Conversation AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
