Do you want the good news or bad news first? TREASURER Wayne Swan is facing the difficult task of telling voters in eight weeks that while the economy is in top shape the Government is running short of money. Explaining the contradiction will be central to the May 14 Budget which the Government hopes will set up a clear run to the September 14 general election despite declaration of a sizable deficit. Prime Minister Julia Gillard has boasted that so far this financial year - and since carbon pricing began on July 1- there have been 118,546 new companies registered, and 186,583 in the 12 months to March 1. Company share prices have risen by about 25 per cent, and unemployment has stayed relatively low and is now at 5.4 per cent and one poll has put business confidence at its highest since April 2011. However, Treasurer Swan is adding a jarring element to this financial story by warning that since last July 1, Government tax revenue has shrunk by some $6 billion against forecasts. The deficit so far is estimated to be $26.8 billion. At play is what the Treasurer calls high nominal growth and low real growth - a relatively rare economic phenomena in which productivity improves but doesn't deliver profits to match. The Coalition is insisting the Government's problems have been caused by excessive spending - such as a $6.5 billion blowout in asylum seeker costs, and the $100 million spent advertising the Schoolkids Bonus which went to parents automatically. Treasurer Swan wants to convince voters that the real problem is revenue and the low flow of corporate tax payments, and not unwarranted spending. The Budget is expected to confirm company profits are down, but that Government spending will still be below 24 per cent of gross national product - significantly lower than during the Coalition government of the Howard years. Mr Swan blames the high Australian dollar which is making business life harder for exporters in particular. Treasury has reported that since early 2009 the Australian dollar has appreciated in value by 50 per cent. The next highest appreciating currency was the Korean won which has risen by 25 per cent in the same period. Mr Swan will maintain spending and in the lead-up to the Budget will claim the Opposition's plans for spending cuts would slow economic growth. "We will not put growth and jobs in our economy at risk by cutting further and deeper in the near term to fill in a hole in revenues," the Treasurer said in a statement. Because it is only through supporting jobs and growth over the past five years that we have been able to keep our nation's impressive run of economic growth going, while virtually every single developed economy fell into recession - with many still struggling to recoup lost output.