"The underlying budget deficit deteriorated in January and now stands just shy of record highs. In the 12- months to January, the budget deficit totalled $62.3 billion, an increase of almost $3.8 billion on the deficit for the 12 months to December. The record budget deficit was $63.3 billion for the 12 months to September 2010. CommSec estimates that the budget deficit equates to 4.6 per cent of GDP.
The budget deficit of $40.7 billion for the seven months to January is also $2.1 billion above the “profile” or expected deficit for the period Over the next five months each monthly budget deficit needs to improve by over $4 billion compared with the equivalent months of 2010 ($20.8 billion in total) for the Government to meet its full year budget deficit target of $41.5 billion.
In the past, the best improvement in the budget position over a six-month period in the past has been just $8.7 billion. Still, the biggest deterioration has been $37 billion. The target is not impossible, but still difficult given the slowdown of the economy and recent floods."
