Govt’s budget surplus in doubt amid coronavirus fallout

The Federal Government is continuing to prepare the ground for its much-anticipated budget surplus to disappear following the coronavirus outbreak. The government has been retreating from previous predictions that it would deliver a budget surplus in May with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg revealing the financial impact of the coronavirus would be worse than the bushfires. He also argued no one could have predicted the virus would emerge when figures were being calculated last year, standing firm that no extreme fiscal measures would be taken. “The virus continues to evolve and depending on how long the travel restrictions are in place, and how the virus evolves globally will obviously impact that final number,” Mr Frydenberg told Sky News. The coronavirus has spread across the European continent overnight with more countries recording their first cases. Image: Getty

from National | Daily Telegraph https://ift.tt/32taoGr