Australia's Treasurer to deliver Robin Hood budget

By James Grubel

CANBERRA, May 12 (Reuters) - Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan played down hopes of a bumper budget surplus on the back of booming resources revenue ahead of his first national budget, to be delivered on Tuesday.

The media has branded the document a "Robin Hood" budget which will hit the rich and give to the poor, with the government announcing higher taxes on luxury cars and easing a surcharge on middle-income earners who do not have private health insurance.

Swan has promised the budget will combat inflationary pressures in the economy, partly by reining in government spending, and crack down on benefits and tax perks for the wealthy while giving tax cuts and extra benefits to working families.

"This will be a responsible budget," Swan told reporters on Monday. "There will be significant savings ... to fight inflation," he added.

The government has promised to deliver a surplus of at least 1.5 percent of gross domestic product to fight inflation, which is running at its highest pace in 16 years.

The government also wants to curb interest rates, which the central bank has raised four times since last August.

Economists still expect the government to report a substantial surplus with revenue from higher prices for Australia's booming resources sector outweighing a downturn in other sectors due to the global credit crunch and downturn in the United States.

A Reuters poll of market economists said the budget would deliver a record surplus of A$19 billion for 2008/09, with economic growth to slow and inflation to be higher.  Continued...