MELBOURNE (Standard & Poor's) May 4, 2004--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that the budget of the Australian State of Victoria delivered today maintained prudent financial settings, which underpin the state's 'AAA' rating. "Continued strong revenue growth--despite the forecast decline in property conveyancing stamp duty revenue due to the cooling housing market--has enabled the government to offer modest tax relief and finance new spending programs with little pain," said Brendan Flynn, credit analyst in Standard & Poor's Sovereign & Public Finance Ratings Group. A large capital investment program, however, will cause general government net debt to drift upward, as modest operating surpluses will not fully finance this capital program. General government net debt is forecast to rise to A$2.6
