Treasury's latest budget outlook vindicates the government's response to the global financial crisis and confirms Labor as the better economic managers, Treasurer Wayne Swan says.
The departments of treasury and finance's Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Outlook (PEFO) has forecast a $3.5 billion surplus in the 2012/13 federal budget, slightly larger than the government's $3.1 billion prediction earlier this month.
Mr Swan said in Perth on Monday the figures underscored the government's strategy to manage the budget responsibly and secure Australia's economy.
"This just demonstrates what a risk to the economy Tony Abbott is and the Liberal Party is," he said.
"They didn't understand the global recession.
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They didn't have a response for it. "If Mr Abbott had his way during the global financial crisis Australia would have suffered a deep recession."
The treasurer said after two and a half years the Liberal Party still can't say when it would return the budget to surplus.
"Time's up for the coalition to submit all their policy through the (PEFO) Charter of Budget Honesty, to the Treasury and Department of Finance," he said.
"It's time now for them to work within the rules that has been established by the Charter to submit policies for independent costings."
Mr Swan said the main reason for the PEFO prediction of a greater surplus was as a result of increased Reserve Bank dividends.
