Australia's fiscal profile remains broadly weaker compared to its AAA-rated country peers, but the outlook raises few concerns, a major ratings agency says.
Fitch Ratings, one of the big three alongside Standard & Poor's and Moody's, pointed to the Labor government's higher debt and deficits compared to some other top-tier European countries facing higher defence spending.
"Things still look relatively stable in line with our outlook," the agency's sovereign ratings senior director, Jeremy Zook told a briefing in Sydney on Monday.
The federal government deficit is forecast to rise to $31.5 billion in the new financial year, alongside net debt of $616.6 billion, with the fiscal bottom line projected to remain in the red until 2034/35.
Fitch, which is due to release its annual review of Australia's credit rating later this year, says the nation's debt to gross domestic product ratio sits about 10 percentage points higher than the AAA country median.
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