The next federal government will need to legislate to raise the country's $300 billion debt ceiling, shadow treasurer Joe Hockey says. Mr Hockey says because the budget under Labor deteriorated by $33 billion in 11 weeks between the May budget and early August, the debt ceiling would be breached before Christmas. "Whoever wins tomorrow is going to have to lift Labor's debt ceiling," Mr Hockey told reporters in Melbourne. "It's not something we want to do ... (but) you cannot leave the markets in an uncertain position about the management of the debt." The coalition's costings of its election promises released on Thursday showed the budget bottom line improving by $6 billion over the next four years, while paying off $16 billion of debt. Mr Hockey says paying off Labor's debt can't happen overnight. "This is a mountain to climb," he said.
