In an election budget, Victorian treasurer Tim Pallas is fighting a war on many fronts

Analysis: To fight his way back to surplus, Pallas relies on economic growth rather than spending cuts or increased taxes

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Inflation, a Covid comeback, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Josh Frydenberg short-changing" his home state - these are the major battles Victoria's treasurer, Tim Pallas, faces as he plots a narrow course towards a small budget surplus within four years' time.

To fight his way back to surplus, Pallas is relying on economic growth - fuelled by the state's speedy bounceback from a Covid-19 recession and a full-to-overflowing $21bn-a-year infrastructure pipeline, which itself contains significant potential pitfalls - rather than cutting spending or increasing taxes.

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