Government cash grab nets $331 million Treasurer Joe Hockey and Finance Minister Senator Mathias Cormann holding a media conference on the Final Budget outcome. A CASH grab from ordinary Australians" bank and superannuation accounts has netted the government $331 million as Treasurer Joe Hockey warned of a worsening budget position. Labor had forecast a $30.1 billion deficit this financial year but as he confirmed a deterioration, Mr Hockey also said the Coalition would raise the $300 billion debt ceiling before Christmas. Labor believed it would rake $109 million from idle bank accounts after it decided in February to take into government revenue accounts which had been untouched for three years. Instead, the raid on idle accounts, which previously happened after seven years, reaped $176 million and another $155 million was taken from unclaimed superannuation accounts under a new threshold. Mr Hockey announced on Friday the final deficit figure for 2012-13, the year former Treasurer Wayne Swan repeatedly promised he would return a surplus, was $18.8 billion. He said Australia would go close to the $300 billion debt ceiling before Christmas and that the Coalition would introduce legislation in parliament to raise it before then. His spokesman declined to say what the new limit would be. "We will go extremely close to the debt limit before Christmas," Mr Hockey said. Labor refused to deal with it, they didn't have the courage to deal with it. We will deal with it, it will be Labor's limit, it will be what they will have left us with. With gross debt hurtling towards the $300 billion debt ceiling, net debt reached $153 billion in 2012-13 with repayments on track to top $10 billion a year. Gross debt is forecast to top $370 billion by 2016-17 Budget circumstances had worsened since the pre-election economic and fiscal outlook was released by Treasury in August, Mr Hockey said but he declined to provide figures. "It's not a significant deterioration, but it is a deterioration," he said. Acting Labor leader Chris Bowen said Mr Hockey should release the midyear economic update before January. He (Mr Hockey) hints there is a further deterioration in the budget position. He should tell us what it is," Mr Bowen said. He can do that by releasing the mid year economic forecast. He has not ruled out releasing it in January when Australia will not be focused on matters of budgetary and fiscal stance. $18.8 billion: the 2012-13 deficit $153 billion: the net debt for 2012-13 $8.3 billion: the interest payment on the net debt 2.5 per cent: the nominal growth in GDP $176 million: raked in from government raids on idle bank accounts $155 million: raked in from government raids on unclaimed superannuation