May 2013
DEFICIT FOR 2012-13 COULD BE SLIGHTLY LOWER THAN ESTIMATED IN BUDGET 2013
For the period April to March of fiscal year 2012-13, the federal government posted a deficit of $18.3 billion, down $3.2 billion from the deficit of $21.6 billion reported in the same period in 2011-12.
Read MoreOnce Again No Reconciliation
The President of the Treasury Board recently tabled Supplementary Estimates A for 2013-14. This is the first Supplementary Estimates since the tabling of Budget 2013. Since Budget 2013 was tabled after the tabling of the Main Estimates for 2013-14, Supplementary Estimates A provided the second opportunity (Budget 2013 was the first) to explain the differences between Estimates and the forecast of total expenses in Budget 2013 for 2013-14. We are still no closer to discovering how much spending will increase/decrease in 2013-14.
Read MorePBO'S ECONOMIC AND FISCAL OUTLOOK - THE MINISTER OF FINANCE SHOULD BE HAPPY
The Parliamentary Budget Officer’s (PBO) latest economic and fiscal outlook is more optimistic than the forecast in Mr. Flaherty’s 2013 Budget. PBO is forecasting lower deficits and higher surpluses throughout the 2012-13 to 2017-18 period. In 2015-16, the year in which the Conservatives promised a balanced budget or better, PBO is forecasting a surplus of $3.7 billion, compared to the Budget 2013 forecast of only $0.8 billion. However, PBO’s forecast is based on a number of assumptions, which if not realized, would put their forecast at risk.
Read MoreTHE GOVERNMENT SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO SHRUG OFF $3.1 BILLION
The major issue, in the Auditor General’s Spring Report, which captured media and public attention, was the revelation that only $9.8 billion of the $12.9 billion earmarked for the Public Security and Anti-Terrorism Initiative (PSAT) could be accounted for, leaving an unexplained shortfall of $3.1 billion.
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