Significant fiscal stimulatory initiatives and a large infrastructure pipeline to improve the economic outlook are weighing on Victoria's budgetary performance. After-capital deficits are likely to narrow while remaining well above prepandemic levels, leading to rising debt. We affirmed our 'AA' long-term and 'A-1+' short-term ratings on Victoria. The outlook is stable. On June 14, 2022, S&P Global Ratings affirmed its 'AA' long-term foreign currency and local currency ratings and 'A-1+' short-term issuer credit rating on the Australian state of Victoria. The outlook is stable. The stable outlook includes our expectation that Victoria's operating balance will track toward a small deficit across our basecase, after-capital deficits will improve, and debt growth will start to slow, albeit from a high level. We
