SYDNEY (Reuters) – The Australian government plans to borrow more than indicated in the 2024/25 financial year, its debt arm said on Wednesday, after it announced several cost-of-living relief measures in the federal budget ahead of a national election due by May.
Following the government’s budget on Tuesday, the Australian Office of Financial Management said it planned to sell around A$100 billion ($63 billion) of Treasury bonds in the year to end-June 2025. Treasury Indexed Bond issuance will be around A$3 billion.
Back in December, the AOFM had indicated it would need to borrow around A$95 billion for this financial year.
For 2025-26, the AOFM plans to sell around A$150 billion ($94.6 billion) of Treasury bonds.
The AOFM said it would remain active in the Treasury Note market with regular issuance for cash management purposes.
Australia’s centre-left government launched fresh tax cuts, extended electricity rebates until the end of the year and cut student debt, tipping the budget back into the red after two years of rare surpluses, in a major push to win back voters.
Opinion polls show a close-run election in Australia with the opposition Liberal-National coalition ahead of the ruling centre-left Labor party by a narrow margin.
The government expects an A$27.6 billion ($17.4 billion) deficit for the fiscal year ending June 2025, slightly worse than its projection of a deficit of A$26.9 billion in December.
($1 = 1.5865 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Chris Reese and Matthew Lewis)
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