The treasurer has maintained Tasmania is on a path towards surplus by the end of the decade — but the claim has been met with scepticism.

One option to improve the bottom line could be selling off one, or some, of Tasmania’s government-owned businesses, which Mr Ferguson has not ruled out.

Asked at Friday’s budget breakfast about selling Tasmania’s publicly held assets, Mr Ferguson said he was not a ‘privatising treasurer’, but had an open mind if it was in the state’s best interests.

“We’d be open to an individual asset being considered,” he later told ABC Radio Mornings.