Hmmmmmm
Here we go again
AUSTRALIA faces at least a decade of debt until the billions in borrowings under Labor can be wiped from the Budget books, according to economists.
Treasurer Wayne Swan declined to comment yesterday on when he thought the current $144 billion net debt level could be repaid while shadow treasurer Joe Hockey would only say reducing debt was a "medium-term'' proposition.
The Howard government took 10 years to pay down the $96 billion net debt inherited from Labor in 1996.
CommSec chief economist Craig James yesterday said circumstances could change quite dramatically, such as if China ramped up again, but that surpluses still looked three or four years away at best.
"And then you have to look at using those surpluses over a number of years,'' he said. "Conservatively we are looking at 10 years.''
AMP Capital Investors chief economist Shane Oliver also estimated a decade.
"The economy is bigger but we don't have the tail wind at our backs which helped the Howard government,'' he said.
"It is unlikely we will have that over the next decade so I'd say about 10 years.''
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/money/federal-budget/australia-faces-decade-of-debt-economists-warn/story-fn8...
