Australian Govt to lift credit limit as debt hurtles towards $500 billion

The Sydney Morning Herald carried a story over the weekend, citing that Australia’s Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison will be forced to lift its own self-imposed credit limit in the coming months as debt approaches half-a-trillion dollars.

The Australian newswire reported, “While the Abbott government abolished the statutory debt limit with the help of the Greens in 2013, the government is now required to issue a direction to the Australian Office of Financial Management stipulating the maximum "face value" of Commonwealth government securities that can be on issue - effectively a debt ceiling. That means the Treasurer, Scott Morrison, will need to lift the limit soon.”