Tasmanian budget update shows 20 per cent improvement in bottom line

Tasmanian Treasurer Peter Gutwein has released an update on the state's finances and says the Government is on track to meet its budget target.

The September quarterly report is the first update since the August budget and shows a deficit of more than $117 million.

Mr Gutwein said that is about a 20 per cent improvement on the budget bottom line for the same quarter last year.

He said revenue and expenditure are also meeting expectations.

"In regards to the expenditures side of the budget as I've said, we're almost exactly where we need to be," he said.

"Roughly 25 per cent of the year's gone and roughly 25 per cent of expenditures have been spent."

The public sector payfreeze was supposed to save $50 million.

That amount will now be achieved through job cuts.

For the Treasurer to stick to his budget, he needs to cut 821 full-time positions before June.

The Tasmanian Opposition Scott Bacon said the true state of the budget could not be determined until the government details how it was delivering public sector job cuts.

"Yeah I think the hallmark of this government, we've seen that with government business scrutiny...is that they won't give out any detail until its dragged out of them kicking and screaming," he said.

"I think it's a really disappointing way for the government to come in. We know that there are hundreds if not thousands of Tasmanian public servants who are worried about their jobs.

"What we want to hear from this government is a bit of detail about how these job cuts are going to be delivered."

In August the deficit was $285 million, with the Treasurer planning a return to surplus in six years.

Net debt was predicted to blowout to $400 million over the next three years, but the Liberal Government plans to reduce it to about $50 million.