MELBOURNE (Standard & Poor's) Dec. 20, 2006--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today said that Victoria's 2006-2007 Budget Update released today is consistent with the state's 'AAA/A-1+' rating. "In net terms, little has changed since the release of the budget in May 2006," said credit analyst Danielle Westwater of the Public Finance Ratings group. "Additional spending, partly as a result of election commitments, has been pretty much offset by greater than expected revenues". Victoria's Budget Update tracks closely to its initial budget, even when including the government's election commitments. This is the result of greater than previously forecast expenditure being matched by greater than previously forecast revenues. Election spending by the government has not led to any significant financial divergence from
