Canada Global(Web News)According to the Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux, the federal government has very little room to increase spending without increasing taxes in the next budget.
Giroux said in an interview that the government doesn’t have much room for new spending if it wants to keep the deficit below one percent of GDP after 2026. He said that if the government decides to reduce expenditure and increase taxes in certain sectors, its spending capacity will increase, but in the current situation, it is difficult for the government to even think of increasing expenditure without increasing taxes.
It is worth noting that Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced this week that she will present the federal budget on April 16. According to Freeland, the introduction of the budget will improve the lives of the middle class for generations to come. The federal government has not indicated any plans to raise taxes. But she said she would spend another $15 million over the next five years to tighten spending in several departments. Along with this, Freeland committed to cutting spending by $14·1 billion before 2028. This means Freeland wants to cut costs by $4·1 billion each year.
But according to Giroux, the cuts are not enough to meet the government’s recent commitments, such as the pharmacare program for diabetes and contraceptives, federal disability benefits, or NATO’s two percent of GDP defense spending. Aim to Not yet included in the budget
