Victorian treasurer, Tim Pallas, will today hand down his 10th budget, which will show the state’s debt is expected to stabilise in the near future. Guardian Australia understands the budget will see Victoria’s net debt to GSP ratio fall for the first time since 2017. It is unclear when in the forward estimates this will occur but the 2022-23 budget update, released in December, showed Victoria’s net debt was set to hit $135.5bn by the end of June and will continue to grow to $177.
8bn by 2026-27 – or 25% of the state’s economy. This figure is something Pallas has been keen to bring down as part of his four-step fiscal plan to pay back the state’s debt, which he says a significant amount was accumulated during the pandemic. The final step is “stabilising debt levels”. The budget will also forecast operating cash surpluses across the forward estimates, reaching $6.1bn in 2027-28.