Treasurer Wayne Swan says the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has given a "ringing endorsement" to Labor's plan to return to surplus.
The day before he hands down his fifth budget, a cheerful Mr Swan fronted reporters journalists outside Parliament House on Monday.
"Tuesday night's budget will show that the Australian economy walks tall in the global economy but support lower and middle income earners at home," he said.
He labelled it a surplus budget that also was a "fair-go budget".
"What we've seen overnight is a ringing endorsement from the International Monetary Fund," the treasurer said.
IMF chief Asian economist Anoop Singh says a commitment to return the budget to surplus in 2012/13 would help rebuild fiscal buffers against economic shocks.
"Tighter fiscal policy combined with an easier monetary stances represents an appropriate policy mix," he wrote in The Australian Financial Review on Monday.
But Mr Singh warned of an upside risk to the Australian economy.
"Investment in the resource sector could be larger than expected, boosting growth and pushing up wages and inflation," he wrote.
It also is clear that not all sectors of the economy are benefiting from the mining boom, he said.
Mr Swan declined to comment on Deloitte Access Economics modelling that found the government would have to cut about $5 billion to achieve a surplus.
He said the details of how the surplus would be achieved would be revealed on Tuesday.
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