Treasurer Josh Frydenberg's grim economic forecast may be even worse if the Victoria lockdown lasts for months rather than weeks, 9News' Political Editor Chris Uhlmann has said.
Giving his economic update Mr Frydenberg this morning compared the economic damage of COVID-19 to that of the Great Depression in 1930.
Australia's deficit estimated at $85.8 billion for 2019-20 will rise to $184.5 billion in 2020-21, the Treasury revealed.
READ MORE: Budget numbers explained simply
The government's COVID-19 spending has totalled $289 billion, or 14.6 per cent of GDP
But Uhlmann said that may be blown off course if the Victoria lockdown lasts beyond the six weeks forecast by the state government.
"These figures may come no where near the mark," he said.
And Australia's net debt - forecast to reach $677.1 billion by June 30, 2021 - could be much worse if the Treasury's figures prove wide of the mark.
"The country could be a trillion dollars in debt ... Everywhere you look the news is bad," he said.
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There is also bad news for jobs with unemployment expected to hit 9.25 per cent by Christmas.
The Federal Government announced this week that JobKeeper will exist until at least March 28 next year.
"We won't really know the full impact on the economy until next March when those government supports start to come away," Uhlmann said.
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