PBO Projects Higher Taxes, Debt Costs

The Parliamentary Budget Officer released its projections and summary of Canada’s fiscal outlook on March 7, noting  “while total budgetary authorities are increasing in this year's Main Estimates, the pace of growth in the 2024-25 Main Estimates has slowed compared to the pandemic years” and that  “. . .  for the first time since the pandemic, voted budgetary authorities have decreased compared to previous years’ Main Estimate.”  The fly in the ointment is that those authorities still remain “roughly 50 per cent higher than in the pre-pandemic 2019-20 Main Estimates” and do not include new spending to be announced in the April 16 budget.  The PBO fiscal outlook follows:

Note that public debt charges are estimated to be $62 Billion by 2029, about $1.3 Billion more than the November Economic Statement estimated. 

Federal spending on elderly benefits will also reach almost $100 billion, due to an increasing senior cohort and indexation to inflation.

Make a difference.  Stay tuned to new developments in the April Federal Budget on April 16 – the details will also be on the agenda at the May 22 Virtual CE Summit. Register now!