Finance Minister Bill Morneau gave a speech inside the House Of Commons this afternoon, providing a federal fiscal update on government spending and COVID-19's impact on the economy.
CANADA - Finance Minister Bill Morneau provided a federal fiscal snapshot today in regards to government spending and COVID-19's economic impact.
The deficit is projected to hit $343.2 billion in 2020-2021. The large figure is due to support programs related to the pandemic, which has pushed the government's level of spending to lengths not seen since the second World War.
This was the first update given by Morneau since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"COVID-19 has spread swiftly across the globe. It brought a new disease onto our headlines, our dinner table conversations and eventually, our shores. From the beginning, we've followed the guidance of public health officials, governments across Canada have put lockdown measures in place to slow the spread of the virus and ensure our health care systems could deal with the scale of the challenge that we faced."
He added the government expects close to two million Canadians to remain out of work this year as the pandemic brings the economy down.
The fiscal update also revealed the federal debt to GDP ratio to hit 49.1% in 2020-2021 and the economy is expected to rebound by 5.5% next year.
Other highlights from the 168-page update includes:
- Net federal debt will hit $1.2 trillion.
- $212 billion in direct federal support for Canadians and businesses
- COVID-19 slowdown has cost the federal treasury an additional $81.3 billion.-
- The GDP will shrink by projected 6.8% this year — worst since the Great Depression.
- A proposal on extending the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy.
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