Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. It will now be at least 18 months before the government delivers a full budget.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
The government will alsolift the debt ceiling from $600 billion to $850 billion in a move it says will ensure"it has the capacity to deal with the ongoing economic impact of the coronavirus".
Last year's budget was brought forward to April because of the May election,meaning it will now be at least 18 months before the government delivers a full budget.
The special appropriation bill will have to be passed at next week's truncated parliamentary sitting to ensure the government has approval for spending into the 2020-21 financial year. About a quarter of the government's total spending will be affected by the special appropriation.
Earlier this week,Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the budget was on track to be delivered on May 12. On Friday,he said the economic situation was changing so quickly it made little sense to set a budget now.
"The idea that you can actually put together any sort of forecast around the economy at this time is simply not sensible,"he said.
During the global financial crisis,then treasurer Wayne Swan released budget and economic forecasts in his mid-year update in early December 2008 and an updated set of forecasts just eight weeks later. The 2009 budget,delivered that May,is the only recent budget to have forecast a recession.