The operating balance before gains and losses (obegal) was a surplus of $167 million for the nine months, $344 million higher than the Treasury forecasts in December.
Likewise, core revenue was $206 million higher than forecast, largely due to core tax revenue being $702 million higher than forecast by the Treasury.
This was partially offset by core interest and dividend revenue being $456 million lower than forecast.
Because of sustained, moderate growth in the economy, the accounts were in good shape ahead of the delivery of Budget 2016, Mr English said yesterday.
"In Budget 2016 our focus is shifting more to repaying debt.''
The Budget would reflect the Government's continued commitment to responsible fiscal management. At the same time, it would build on the good progress made over the previous seven Budgets, with further investment in a growing economy and public service.
"We measure success by results, rather than the level of spending,'' he said.
However, Berl chief economist Ganesh Nana said the Budget had all the hallmarks of treading water. There would be strenuous efforts to make it look like something was being done but without the will to do anything.
"With the accounts showing a borderline surplus or deficit, the chances of any significant tax relief will remain on the backburner. The shadow of the Auckland housing market imbalance spilling over to neighbouring regions will pepper the narrative and accompanying commentary.''
The will to comprehensively address the imbalance would remain absent, he said. More likely, there would be further exhortations to local authorities to release land and relax planning rules.
Given the success in convincing most that the situation was sound and prospects were positive, it could be argued a treading water Budget was precisely what was needed, Dr Nana said.
The Crown accounts, released by the Treasury, showed something of a reversal with the obegal in surplus and the operating balance blowing out to a nearly $3.6 billion deficit from a forecast deficit of $117 million.
Net losses were $3.8 billion higher than forecast due to higher than expected actuarial losses on the ACC claims liability, reflecting the effect of changes in valuation assumptions compared with forecast. At the corresponding time last year, obegal was a deficit of $358 million and operating balance was a deficit of $1.3 billion.
Gross debt fell by $3.6 billion, or 4.1%, to $84.5 billion from March 2015 and net debt increased by $264 million, or 0.4%, over the same time.
Green Party finance spokeswoman Julie Anne Genter said the Government accounts were important but what was far more meaningful to New Zealand was unemployment having risen to 144,000 people and median Auckland house prices now nearly 10 times the median household income.
"The Government's books are marginally in surplus this month because of delays to expected spending on things like Christchurch rebuild anchor projects and Treaty of Waitangi settlements.''
What was important, in the long term, was, after eight years, National had not built an economy that was overcoming the problems the country faced, such as the housing crisis and child poverty, she said.
