Economists have lined up to support the Federal Government's move to ditch its surplus promise.

Here is some of what they said:

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 4 minutes 38 seconds 4 m 38 s Economist Saul Eslake says abandoning surplus 'sensible' ( Michael Janda ) Download 2.1 MB

Sorry, this video has expired 'Blindingly obvious' there would be no surplus: Walters ( Whitney Fitzsimmons and Phillip lasker )

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 6 minutes 10 seconds 6 m Economist Stephen Walters says surplus target has damaged economy ( Elysse Morgan ) Download 2.8 MB

Business response

At least one major business group has welcomed the move, while urging the Federal Government to maintain its fiscal discipline over the next few years:

Ratings unaffected

One of the world's major ratings agencies, Standard & Poor's, says Australia's AAA credit rating is currently unaffected by the Government's admission that a surplus this year is unlikely: