..but they were wrong and how
"We are going to have a very, very strong budget position relative to what we saw just six months ago," said ANZ chief economist Warren Hogan.
"We haven't done the final numbers yet, but we are thinking the deficit to be announced in this year's budget could be as low as $30 billion. Next year we could be something close to a balanced budget."
... Investment bank Goldman Sachs JBWere has told its clients to expect an economic growth rate as high as 3.75 per cent both this year and the next. "We are looking for unemployment to be 4.9 per cent by the end of this year, but the Treasury are still looking for it to be 6.75 per cent," the note says.
"It looks as if we could see a budget surplus some time in 2012. Investors from offshore who buy Australia right now will be winners. The rest will come in later after the government makes its big upgrades. "
