Andrew Barr hasn't provided major cash coronavirus stimulus: report

The Pegasus Economics report said the government has not provided any major financial stimulus across the pandemic, with the economy instead relying on Commonwealth support.

The 2020-21 budget handed down in early February showed an improved bottom line from what was predicted in August.

It is now projected to be about $603 million in the red this financial year, a $300 million improvement on the mid-year economic update.

Net debt was also revised down slightly to $4.6 billion this year, and $7.65 billion in 2023-24.

But the forward estimates project the territory will be in the red for the foreseeable future.

The report was commissioned by the Legislative Assembly's standing committee on public accounts and said the COVID-19 pandemic couldn't be solely to blame for the budget position.

"Rather, the decline in the fiscal outlook reflects structural weaknesses in the ACT budget that have been exacerbated by the dampening of economic activity precipitated by the COVID pandemic," it read.

It suggested the ACT government had overstated the fiscal stimulus measures it had provided and the affect on its budget bottom line.

"The available evidence suggests the main source of fiscal stimulus to support the ACT economy during the COVID-19 pandemic came from the Commonwealth government," it read.

"It is difficult to discern evidence of any major stimulus provided to the ACT economy by the ACT government."

The report noted that the ACT government's share of the ACT economy was 10.2 per cent before the pandemic, and remained the same after the impact was felt.

"ACT government spending actually contracted by 3.4 per cent during the September quarter 2020," it read.

"On the other hand, Commonwealth government spending increased significantly during the March and June quarters in 2020."

Speaking at estimates hearings on Wednesday, Mr Barr disputed the claims in the report.

"That's an opinion, there's no actual basis for it and really I don't think it's going to be particularity productive to debate Pegasus' opinions," he said.

"If the view was that we had done nothing then we would not have forgone hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue and spent hundreds of millions in both health and economic support."

The report was critical of the government's tax reform agenda, which aims to phase out stamp duty in favour of higher residential rates.

It said it was incongruous for the government to be collecting more money from both residential stamp duty and general rates, while half way through its pledge to abolish stamp duty all together.

"The current ACT government's approach to its tax reform risks undermining the main efficiency benefits associated with the policy measure, namely encouraging people to change their housing to better suit their requirements," it read.

"The approach foreshadowed by the NSW government (2020) of charging annual property tax for those who elect not to pay residential stamp duty may be a faster way to achieve the desired tax reform for the ACT government and would be worth further consideration.

"Adopted for the ACT's purposes, such a policy would impose higher residential general rates on those who chose not to pay residential conveyances on a residential property purchase."

The report said it would be a challenge for the ACT to return to surplus, requiring considerable fiscal discipline over a long period of time.

It noted a projected return to surplus had been announced, but not actually achieved, in successive budgets between 2012-13 and 2017-18 and again in 2019-20

Mr Barr said he couldn't "verify" Pegasus' report comparing forecasts to actual budget positions, but could not point to any errors in the report.

He said the ACT would be unlikely to return to surplus before the Commonwealth does.

"It's a long journey back for them and given they contribute about 55 per cent of our budget what they do has a very big impact on what happens for the territory," he said.

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