Australia’s Pre-Election Budget Largess May Temper RBA Rate Cuts

Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers will need to find a way of wooing voters while keeping spending under control when he hands down his pre-election budget in parliament on Tuesday.

The fiscal blueprint he delivers needs to boost spending to ease cost pressures on disgruntled voters and offer them prospects for improvement under a second-term Labor government. Yet Chalmers must also contain the deficit to avoid potentially rekindling inflation and limiting further interest-rate cuts.