Today's Half-Yearly Review confirms the NSW economy is continuing to strengthen, with the budget remaining on track to return to surplus in 2027-28.
NSW Treasury's latest forecasts show:
- The state is expected to post a $1.3 billion surplus in 2027-28, $200 million more than projected at the 2025-26 Budget.
- Gross debt is projected to be $177.2 billion by June 2026, $1.5 billion lower than projected at the Budget.
- Average expense growth is projected to be 2.6 per cent per annum over the forward estimates, down from the 6.5 per cent average expense growth each year between 2011-12 and 2022-23.
- Real wages remain on track to grow each year over the forward estimates, despite inflationary pressures lingering in the Australian economy.
The Review reflects the Minns Labor Government's disciplined strategy to turn around the large deficit it inherited in 2023. Since then the Government has:
- Eliminated wasteful spending by implementing the most comprehensive expenditure review in decades.
- Slashed interest expenses by $500 million per annum after cutting gross debt by $11 billion, compared to the Pre-Election Budget Update.
- Cut spending on consultants and senior executives, using the savings to rebuild the state's essential services.
- Repaired the state's broken insurance schemes by overhauling workers compensation and insourcing police death and disability protection.
- Driven higher investment returns by creating OneFund, a framework which overhauls the state's fund management strategy.
Today's Review books the spending decisions the Government has taken since the 2025-26 Budget.
It includes the cost of offering ongoing cost-of-living relief to NSW motorists by making the $60 toll cap permanent, as well as the costs of terminating the Liberals' disastrous privatisation of the Northern Beaches Hospital and returning it to public ownership.
The Half-Yearly Review is available here
NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said:
"NSW has had a horrible week. The state's focus must remain on healing.
"Today's Half-Yearly Review updates markets and the public about the state of the Government's finances. It reports a slight improvement in the budget results, and accounts for our
decisions to make the toll cap permanent and return the Northern Beaches Hospital to public ownership."
Finance Minister Courtney Houssos said:
"Our thoughts remain with everyone affected by the horrific events of the past week.
"The budget forecasts are steady and consistent with the June Budget. It demonstrates the Government's careful and disciplined approach to managing the public's money."
