$60m a day: soaring interest bill on Australia’s debt eclipses cost of childcare or infrastructure

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says ‘spending restraint and fiscal responsibility’ will be central to the government’s 2023 budget on Tuesday. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Interest payments on commonwealth government debt will cost the federal budget $112bn over five years, or $60m a day.

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, revealed the soaring cost of debt in the lead-up to Tuesday’s budget, which will show interest now costs more than the family tax benefit, childcare or infrastructure.