Canada needs to be ‘fiscally prudent’ in budget, finance minister says

OTTAWA, Jan 24 (Reuters) – Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland stated on Tuesday her strategy to this yr’s finances, due out someday this spring, could be fastidiously calibrated on account of a excessive stage of uncertainty within the world economic system.

“There’s nonetheless a whole lot of uncertainty on the earth economic system, and that signifies that we do must proceed to take a fiscally prudent strategy,” Freeland stated in reply to a reporter’s question about this yr’s finances that was streamed on-line.

“We nonetheless have no idea for positive how the aircraft goes to land. We have no idea for positive how the COVID recession goes to lastly play out,” she stated in Hamilton, Ontario on the sidelines of a gathering of cupboard ministers.

Final fall, Freeland promised to not make the central financial institution’s job of taming decades-high inflation tougher when she introduced a fall fiscal replace, which did nonetheless embody C$11.3 billion in new spending that some analysts stated was an excessive amount of.

Inflation remains to be over 6% – greater than 3 times the central financial institution’s 2% goal. The Financial institution of Canada will announce its newest interest-rate resolution on Wednesday, with analysts forecasting a quarter-point improve after which doubtless a pause.

The federal government has already stated it was keen to extend well being transfers to the provinces this yr, and that it needed to take a position to make Canada extra aggressive with the USA because it pivots towards inexperienced applied sciences.

Canada has additionally pledged to bolster its personal navy and to maintain serving to Ukraine with weapons and help.

Reporting by Steve Scherer
Enhancing by Mark Heinrich

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Belief Ideas.