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Deloitte Access Economics Partner Chris Richardson says people need to be mindful that “the budget is not broken” as Australia moves out of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We’ve done temporary spending, if we can get the economy back in good shape then the budget will be back to balance faster than people realise,” he told Sky News.

Mr Richardson downplayed fears of Australia entering a post-pandemic economic crisis as he said the nation was economically ahead of the curve in the fight against the virus.

“The hidden weapon we had coming into the crisis was we had a balanced federal budget and a low public sector debt,” he said.

“Those massive stimulus programs we rolled out … the money got to people faster than the equivalent schemes in the Global Financial Crisis.

“Sure, our debts will be higher at the end of this – it doesn’t terribly worry me – interest rates have never been lower, they’ll stay nailed to the floor for some years.”

Image: Getty