Rapid erosion of South Australia’s economy has fallen squarely on the shoulders of the state’s Premier and Treasurer, which happen to be the same person.

Premier Jay Weatherill has blamed a number of factors on the $380 million deterioration in less than two months. Figures released this week show total deficit is now around $1 billion.

As both Premier and Treasurer, Mr Weatherill has copped the full force of criticism over the state’s ailing financial situation.

Weatherill has pointed to the withdrawal and industry fallout from General Motors’ announcement it would be ending production of Holden cars in Australia in coming years.

The budgetary situation has not been officially revealed by the government, which has been accused of keeping it a secret by local media outlets. A leaked copy of a briefing signed by Mr Weatherill and delivered to Cabinet this week reportedly shows large cuts expected from GST revenue, as well as a direct hit from the Holden shutdown.

The briefing suggest things really are close to the bone in SA, saying; “this outlook does not include any provision for new expenditure commitments, including potential election commitments.”

“Any new expenditure initiatives announced in the lead-up to the election will impact on the Budget outlook and break the fiscal targets unless offset by new savings or revenue measures or using existing allocated funding announcements,” the leaked document states.

The Opposition has leapt on the figures, which have come just weeks before a state election.

“South Australia is now officially in the midst of a catastrophic jobs crisis and Mr Weatherill has been caught out hiding this from South Australians,” Opposition Leader Steven Marshall said.

It is expected that the Premier will make an official announcement of the budgetary outlook very soon.