Cost-of-living support in the ACT will focus on energy prices in the coming year, the Chief Minister has said.
Andrew Barr is also hoping for a triple-three set of economic indicators, with inflation, the cash rate and unemployment to be around 3 per cent, describing that as a "sweet spot" for the economy.
"As to where we are by the middle of next year, I suspect the unemployment rate will be around the 3, 3.5 per cent [mark]," he said.
"Hopefully interest rates are back. The cash rate has a three in front of it by the middle of next year."
The Chief Minister hopes the cycle of interest rate rises has finished and that mortgages may become cheaper from the middle of next year.
"So given our mortgage belt is as a proportion of all households is slightly larger than the Australian average, that's obviously very significant for everyone who's on a variable rate mortgage," Mr Barr said.
But Mr Barr, who is the ACT's Treasurer, warned mortgage holders should not expect interest rates to fall back to record-low levels.
"The RBA cash rate might settle back down to around 4 per cent rather than 4.35 [per cent]," he said.
"It's sort of a question of what the neutral rate is, what's seen as not a stimulatory but equally not a contractionary point."
Financial markets and economists expect the current 4.35 per cent cash rate is at or near the peak.
Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock earlier this month conceded it had been a "hard year" and said "hopefully things are going to get better next year".
Mr Barr said the gap between job vacancies and unemployed people was starting to close in the ACT.
"The labour market has been full pelt, absolute full employment," he said.
"There's been a slight shift in that position - but we've still added thousands of additional jobs. Our participation rate ... was the highest in the country."
Mr Barr said the government would be particularly focused on energy prices when it considered cost-of-living support.
"The budget's late June. So we'll be able to have full information on what change in energy prices there will be before that will start on July 1 next year," he said.
"And then the other two areas that are mostly within our control are education and health related. So we obviously have concession programs and supports in both of those streams."
The ACT faced an $81 million budget black hole in the September quarter, after the territory raised less revenue than it anticipated.
The drop in revenue was mainly due to lower-than-expected goods and services tax revenue from the Commonwealth and lower payroll tax.
But the drop was partially offset by $35.6 million in savings across government spending, including a $12.1 million saving on cheaper-than-expected insurance claim expenditure.
The federal government's mid-year budget review showed economic growth would slow to 1.75 per cent in 2023-24, before picking up to 2.25 per cent in 2024-25.
The Commonwealth forecast growth in real household disposable incomes would pick up in 2024-25.
The ACT was stripped of its AAA credit rating by S&P Global in September. The international credit rating agency noted the territory's slower-than-expected budget recovery.
