Myefo 2023: Australia’s federal budget on track for wafer-thin $1.1bn deficit

A worker walks near conveyer belts loaded with iron ore at the Fortescue Solomon iron ore mine. Australia’s budget bottom line has improved by almost $13bn due to strong commodity prices and a healthy labour market, Myefo has revealed. Photograph: David Gray/Reuters

Australia’s federal budget is on track for a wafer-thin $1.1bn deficit this year, with a strong labour market and commodity prices fuelling expectations the eventual result will be a second Labor surplus.

The mid-year economic and fiscal outlook, released on Wednesday, revealed a $12.8bn improvement for the 2023-24 financial year compared with the May budget and a total of $39.5bn more in federal coffers over the four years to 2026-27.