Budget will pump $550m into bank regulators in response to royal commission

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg declines to rule out bringing forward tax cuts, and insists he has resisted pre-election spending bids

The Morrison government will boost funding for the corporate and banking watchdogs by $550m over the forward estimates when it hands down a pre-election budget likely to include tax cuts and infrastructure spending, as well as a surplus in 2019-20.

As part of the response to the Hayne royal commission, the government will allocate $400m in additional funding to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and $150m for the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority over the next four years.