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http://business.financialpost.com/n...ederal-deficit-for-2016-17-was-17-8-billion-2
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government recorded a deficit of $17.8 billion in its first full fiscal year, beating budget projections by $5.3 billion largely on the back of lower-than-expected program spending, new figures show.
The Finance Department’s Annual Financial Report, published Tuesday, showed program expenses for the fiscal year that ended March 31 were $3.7 billion lower than forecast in the government budget earlier this year. Revenues were $1.4 billion higher than projected.
The improving fiscal picture for Finance Minister Bill Morneau looks poised to continue — data released last month show Canada’s economy kicked off the current fiscal year by growing at a 4.5 per cent annualized pace in the second quarter. Morneau’s March budget projected a $28.5 billion deficit for the current fiscal year.
All told, if the pace of better-than-expected revenue and lower-than-expected spending continues, Morneau and Trudeau will face a choice of whether to spend, save or do a bit of both.
“What the numbers mean is our plan to grow the economy and the middle class is working,” Trudeau said at a press conference in Ottawa on Tuesday.
The drop in program expenses reflected a number of factors including lower infrastructure transfer payments, the finance department said in the report. Higher-than-expected revenue was largely driven by the federal sales tax, known as the Goods and Services Tax, and non-resident income tax.
Spending Up
Deficits are a politically fraught issue for Trudeau. He won the 2015 election as the only major party leader to pledge deficits, though has since run larger ones than promised and is frequently attacked by the rival Conservative Party for his fiscal record.
The smaller-than-forecast deficit is still nearly double the $9.9 billion Trudeau had campaigned on in 2015, an increase that is almost entirely due to higher spending. Tuesday’s figures show total program spending rose to $287.2 billion in the year, compared to $271 billion in the previous fiscal year, which was roughly split between the Conservatives and Trudeau’s Liberals. That jump in spending was compounded by a slight decline in revenue to $293.5 billion, from $295.5 billion the year before. Taken together, and offset by a $1.3 billion decline in total debt charges, the deficit swelled to $17.8 billion from $1 billion the year earlier.
The country’s ratio of debt to its gross domestic product rose to 31.2 per cent from 31 per cent. The figure has stayed relative flat over the last decade, and is half what it was in the mid-1990s.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government recorded a deficit of $17.8 billion in its first full fiscal year, beating budget projections by $5.3 billion largely on the back of lower-than-expected program spending, new figures show.
The Finance Department’s Annual Financial Report, published Tuesday, showed program expenses for the fiscal year that ended March 31 were $3.7 billion lower than forecast in the government budget earlier this year. Revenues were $1.4 billion higher than projected.
The improving fiscal picture for Finance Minister Bill Morneau looks poised to continue — data released last month show Canada’s economy kicked off the current fiscal year by growing at a 4.5 per cent annualized pace in the second quarter. Morneau’s March budget projected a $28.5 billion deficit for the current fiscal year.
All told, if the pace of better-than-expected revenue and lower-than-expected spending continues, Morneau and Trudeau will face a choice of whether to spend, save or do a bit of both.
“What the numbers mean is our plan to grow the economy and the middle class is working,” Trudeau said at a press conference in Ottawa on Tuesday.
The drop in program expenses reflected a number of factors including lower infrastructure transfer payments, the finance department said in the report. Higher-than-expected revenue was largely driven by the federal sales tax, known as the Goods and Services Tax, and non-resident income tax.
Spending Up
Deficits are a politically fraught issue for Trudeau. He won the 2015 election as the only major party leader to pledge deficits, though has since run larger ones than promised and is frequently attacked by the rival Conservative Party for his fiscal record.
The smaller-than-forecast deficit is still nearly double the $9.9 billion Trudeau had campaigned on in 2015, an increase that is almost entirely due to higher spending. Tuesday’s figures show total program spending rose to $287.2 billion in the year, compared to $271 billion in the previous fiscal year, which was roughly split between the Conservatives and Trudeau’s Liberals. That jump in spending was compounded by a slight decline in revenue to $293.5 billion, from $295.5 billion the year before. Taken together, and offset by a $1.3 billion decline in total debt charges, the deficit swelled to $17.8 billion from $1 billion the year earlier.
The country’s ratio of debt to its gross domestic product rose to 31.2 per cent from 31 per cent. The figure has stayed relative flat over the last decade, and is half what it was in the mid-1990s.
