Australian Treasurer Frydenberg wants jobless rate below 5% to repair the budget

The government won't begin repairing the budget until the unemployment rate is below 5%, Australian Treasurer Frydenberg told ABC radio ahead of a pre-budget speech on Thursday.

Note that the budget is due for release on May 11.

Additional takeaways

"Our focus right now is to get more people into work, because if you get more people into work, you actually improve the budget bottom line.”

"There is a lot of uncertainty out there, that is why we are going to continue to support the economy in those areas of need."

“Won't make a sharp pivot towards "austerity.”

 the virus remains a threat to both the global and domestic economies, international borders remain largely closed.” 

"For these reasons, we remain firmly in the first phase of economic and fiscal strategy.”

"We will not move to the second phase of the fiscal strategy until we are confident that we have secured the economic recovery."