Pre-election peek into Crown books shows bigger 2017 surplus, smaller ones later

Wed, 23 Aug 2017

By Paul McBeth Aug. 23 (BusinessDesk) - The government's pre-election books show a bigger surplus for the 2017 financial year, largely at the expense of out-years, but Finance Minister Steven Joyce doesn't see room to splash out until around 2020. The operating balance before gains and losses (obegal) is forecast to show a surplus of $3.7 billion in the year ended June 30, larger than the $1.6 billion surplus projected in the May budget, the Treasury's pre-election economic and fiscal update shows. That's due to the government's coffers...

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