Australia reveals pre-poll plan to balance budget in 2 years

CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s government says it has turned a corner on mounting debt and has proposed a plan to give tax cuts to most Australians while balancing the books within two years.

Treasurer Scott Morrison revealed to Parliament on Tuesday his third annual budget and his last before his conservative coalition stands for re-election within a year.

He promised a modest surplus of 2.2 billion Australian dollars ($1.65 billion) in the 2019-20 fiscal year– down from an estimated AU$18.2 billion deficit in the current year ending June 30. The return to surplus had been expected a year later.

Australia recorded a decade of surplus budgets before the global financial crisis in 2008. It has accumulated deficits every year since.

The progress in trimming debt is partly thanks to Asia’s dynamic growth.