Abbott won't commit to surplus timing Labor's Penny Wong doubts a coalition government can deliver a budget surplus without service cuts. OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott refuses to be tied to giving a specific timetable for a coalition government budget surplus, saying it would be "foolish" to do so given the deterioration under Labor. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says he fears the opposition would take the path of British conservatives who went on a massive austerity program and sent the UK economy into recession. He said the last thing Australia could afford is to have a sledgehammer taken to the economy, although it is better equipped to handle delicate international circumstances. At the coalition election campaign launch on Sunday, Mr Abbott said the budget would be on track to a "believable" surplus by the end of a first term. He refined this on Monday, saying if successful at the election on September 7, it could deliver a surplus by 2016/17 if current budget projections were correct. Labor has forecast a $4 billion surplus in 2016/17. "We will deliver a surplus as soon as we humanly can and we will deliver a surplus quicker and more reliably than the Labor party," he told reporters in Brisbane. Mr Abbott said Labor's economic update before the campaign in early August showed the budget bottom line had deteriorated by about $3 billion a week from the May budget. "With that kind of deterioration, it would be foolish of me to give an absolute guarantee," he said. Treasurer Chris Bowen said Mr Abbott was constantly changing his stance. "He previously said he would provide a surplus in year one, and then it changed to sometime over the next four years and then it changed to 'before Labor'," Mr Bowen said in Sydney. Now it is apparently one per cent in 10 years' time with no further detail. However, CPA Australia chief executive Alex Malley said the coalition's position made sense. "We have long argued that what the country needs is a suite of measures that help stimulate broader-based economic growth, not a race to surplus for surplus' sake," he said in a statement. Labor continues to pressure the coalition to release the costings of its election promises for full scrutiny, rather than leaving it to the final week. Mr Abbott has promised shadow treasurer Joe Hockey will release "interim" costings when he faces Mr Bowen at the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday. Finance Minister Penny Wong said Mr Abbott's speech pointed to smaller government. It's cuts to jobs and cuts to services," she told Sky News. The June quarter national accounts will feature in the final week of election campaigning. Crucial components for the September 4 data are due on Wednesday and Thursday this week, regarding construction and business expenditure, along with future investment plans. Barclays Australia chief economist Kieran Davies expects investment plans to be weak because it looks like mining investment has already peaked. More broadly, he expects non-mining investment to show a dire outlook for manufacturing, but he is "cautiously positive" about the outlook for the service sector.