Australia Treasurer forecasts yawning fiscal deficit on virus-driven stimulus

SYDNEY, July 23 (Reuters) – Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said on Thursday the country’s budget swung into a massive deficit of A$85.8 billion ($61.3 billion) in the year-ended June 2020 due to the government’s fiscal stimulus plan to battle the coronavirus pandemic.

The budget deficit is forecast to further expand to $184.5 billion deficit in 2020-21, Frydenberg said.

Australia on Wednesday posted its biggest one-day jump in new infections amid a surge in cases in the country’s second most populous state, which ordered nearly 5 million people to stay home unless for essential reasons two weeks earlier. ($1 = 1.4002 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Swati Pandey; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

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source: reuters.com