MELBOURNE (Standard&Poor's) Oct. 11, 2004--The return of the Liberal-National Party coalition government under Prime Minister John Howard in Australia's general election last Saturday is consistent with the stable outlook on the 'AAA' rating on the Commonwealth of Australia. Despite the government's big spending re-election campaign, the federal budget should remain in surplus, provided the forecasts of economic growth underpinning the budget forward estimates are met. "A strong fiscal position is important for Australia's rating," said Rick Shepherd, credit analyst in Standard&Poor's Sovereign&Public Finance Ratings group. "This is required to offset the main risk to Australia's top rating, which is its chronic current account deficits and the resulting high level of external debt, one of
