The federal government will begin raising some of the funds needed to finance the building of the National Broadband Network (NBN) with the release of $300 million worth of investment bonds.
With the federal government having made an initial $4.7 billion down-payment towards the NBN in last year's budget, there is little new money for the key plank of its nation building agenda.
But the budget shows the government will seek to finance some of the money needed for the $43 billion project with the release of $300 million worth of Aussie Infrastructure Bonds over the next financial year.
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However, it remains unclear whether Australian households will be able to invest in the bonds.
"Consideration is currently being given to offerings of Aussie Infrastructure Bonds for household investors," the government said.
The first release of the bonds will only be to institutional and wholesale investors.
They will not be separately identified from other Commonwealth Government Securities at the time of issue but will be reported in the annual budget statements.
With the exception of some detail on the plan to issue bonds to raise some of the debt required to fund the NBN, there are is not much on offer the digital economy in the 2010/11 budget.
There will be an additional $15 million over four years for continued support and implementation of the NBN.
The money will go to funding policy and regulatory support for the roll out, overseeing construction of links to regional blackspots and managing the government's share in NBN Co - the company responsible for building and operating the project.
There is also $24 million over five years for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to manage regulatory arrangements for the NBN.
