Gladys Berejiklian trumpets fiscal discipline and says NSW is in a cash-positive position for the first time on record

Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian hailed a budget surplus and said NSW was investing record amounts in infrastructure.

The net debt of New South Wales will be wiped out after a budget surplus of $4.7bn for the last financial year, the state treasurer, Gladys Berejiklian, says.

The healthy result for 2015-16 is a $1.3bn improvement on the $3.4bn surplus flagged in the June 2016 budget.

The increase was largely due to one-off items including higher realised distributions from investments and actuarial valuations in SICorp, Berejiklian said before the release of the total state sector accounts on Thursday.

General government sector net debt fell from $5.5bn at 30 June last year to a negative $57m at the same time this year – meaning NSW is in a cash-positive position for the first time on record, according to the treasurer.

“Our fiscal discipline and asset recycling strategy has allowed us to invest record amounts on infrastructure while securing our triple-A credit rating,” Berejiklian said.

“This unprecedented infrastructure program is also supporting our booming jobs market, solid housing construction industry and helping to boost consumer confidence and business investment.”

The state’s coffers have been benefiting from a windfall revenue from property taxes, fuelled by Sydney’s booming property market, as well as the $10bn sale of the electricity network TransGrid.

The Baird government’s debt-free days will be short-lived, however, with spending on big infrastructure projects including the WestConnex motorway and the Sydney metro rail project set to ramp up over coming years.

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