Tag #Off-Budget Spending

How do the accounting practices related to "off-budget" items impact the transparency and accountability of government spending, and what are the long-term consequences of this approach?

The practice of classifying certain government expenditures as "off-budget" items, including loans and investments, significantly distorts the true picture of Australia's fiscal position. These items, totaling $20.8 billion for 2024-25, are excluded from the underlying cash balance, which only includes day-to-day operations and investments in non-financial assets. This leads to an artificially smaller deficit figure than the actual spending.