From the AFR:
The Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Outlook, or PEFO, will be released by Treasury which prepares the economic statement without any input from the government.
…”Once PEFO has been released there are no more excuses for Labor. They must show by how much the budget bottom line would deteriorate as a result of their unfunded spending promises so far in each year of the forward estimates,” Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said.
“Unfunded spending promises lead to higher taxes which hurt jobs and growth and Labor spending promises without explaining how they would pay for them make them meaningless and unable to be delivered.”
…In his reply to the budget at the National Press Club last week, shadow treasurer Chris Bowen pledged he would release before election day the full details of Labor’s costings based on the estimates in PEFO. He also promised that if elected, Labor would hand down a mini-budget within 100 days taking into account what it says would be more realistic forecasts for real and nominal economic growth and the iron ore price.
If I were you, Mr Cormann, I would be treading very carefully around allegations of unfunded promises given the outrageous forecasting lies that underpin your own outlook including:
If I were Mr Bowen I would launch a full blown attack on these lies and the jeopardy in which they have placed the AAA rating. To wit, Moodys after the Budget of Lies:
“The projected increase in revenues as a share of GDP is based on a return to robust nominal GDP growth which generally comes with a higher revenue-intensity of growth. Our forecast for nominal GDP growth is somewhat more muted than the government’s. We estimate that the adjustment to an environment of lower commodity prices is still underway and will continue to weigh on corporate profitability and wage growth. As a result, improvements in the government’s revenues may be somewhat more muted than currently budgeted.
