Swan defends budget savings

Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan says he's unlikely to make any significant budget decisions based on the latest update.

The Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook, released on Tuesday, forecasts a near-$10 billion hit in revenues because of the strong Australian dollar.

Mr Swan says the figures are based on a snapshot of the exchange rate.

"I'm not prepared, necessarily, to take very significant decisions about the budget simply based on one snapshot," he told ABC Radio on Wednesday.

"There are swings and roundabouts with the exchange rate."

Mr Swan rejected opposition claims he had failed to make tough budget decisions following the latest update.

"We are putting in place our strict fiscal discipline," he said.

"Whatever the levels of the dollar, we will make sure we meet our fiscal targets."

The budget review showed the forecast surplus has been shaved to $3.1 billion in 2012/13, with slightly deeper deficits in 2010/11 and 2011/12.

The opposition says the MYEFO shows a government without the "ticker" to make tough budget decisions.

But, Finance Minister Penny Wong said the government's fiscal strategy was broader than what was delivered in the MYEFO.

"Fiscal discipline is not about one decision, it's about many decisions," she told ABC Radio on Wednesday.

"We've offset spending during the campaign. We did a lot of heavy lifting.

"Since the election, we have offset all new spending. That's what the MYEFO story is. We've offset our commitments to the independents and other decisions that we've made since then."

Victorian Treasurer John Lenders told The Australian newspaper the need for federal stimulus had disappeared and funds for the Building the Education Revolution (BER) scheme were instead used to accelerate the state's own school building program.

Senator Wong defended the BER spending, saying the building sector was still "soft, compared to pre-crisis levels".