Substantial surpluses in the government budget
The central government budget will generate a substantial surplus this year. This favourable situation looks set to last throughout the forecast period. The surplus each year is expected to average more than 2 per cent of GDP. Central government net lending will be more than 1 per cent of GDP this year before improving to more than 2 per cent in 2010. The surpluses mean that central government debt will continue to fall relative to GDP. The margin to this year´s expenditure ceiling is almost 2 per cent, which is more than enough to cover normal uncertainty in the forecast. The margin for next year is also adequate.The forecast does not take account of proposals that are not yet sufficiently concrete, such as the planned sell-offs of state-owned companies or the second phase of the earned income tax credit.
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