The Trudeau government has tabled a budget that will use billions of dollars worth of fresh fiscal runway for new investments
_ but it leaves Ottawa with no timetable for balanced books anywhere
on its horizon.
Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s budget will channel the extra
dollars into new spending that he’s banking on to lift Canada’s
long-term growth.
Morneau says the new spending will be carried out in a
responsible way and argues his earlier investments have already
produced encouraging economic results.
Compared to the fall, the government has $19.8 billion in
additional cash to play with over the next six years _ an average of
$3.3 billion per year in extra fiscal elbow room.
The extra money comes from a number of sources, including the
stronger economy, revenues from tax changes for private
corporations, lower-than-expected departmental spending and
re-profiled infrastructure commitments.
- The government is projecting deficits roughly in line with its
October projections. The new outlook now shows a $18.1-billion
shortfall for 2018-19 that’s expected to gradually shrink to $12.3
billion in 2022-23, including annual $3-billion cushions to offset
risks.