Australian Treasurer says next budget will be tight

There will be a very tight fiscal strait-jacket around Tuesday's federal budget, Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan said on Monday.

"There will be a shift in focus from fending off recession to building a post-crisis economy." Swan told ABC Radio.

Opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey said the budget will be tight because there's "nothing left in the can to spend".

"(Australian Prime Minister) Kevin Rudd spent the last surplus, he'll spend the next surplus," Hockey told ABC Radio.

The government has been capping spending at two percent plus inflation, Hockey said.

"They're actually increasing their expenditure by around five percent."

Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner was playing up the prospect of a no-frills budget.

"I'm not really interested in whether we're put going to put on a song and dance and few gimmicks in the budget."

The government has vowed to deliver a no-frills budget, with spending capped at two percent in an effort to bring it back to surplus by 2015/16.

The government will be looking to make savings and offset new spending commitments, Swan said.

Swan will hand down his third budget, for 2010/11, on Tuesday.

Source:Xinhua