BUDGET ANALYSIS Canada: Budget 2018

Budget 2018, presented today by Minister of Finance Bill Morneau, contains few changes to the federal government’s fiscal projections from the October update. For the fiscal year ending next March 31, a $19.4 billion deficit is now forecast, compared to $19.9 billion at the time of the update. For 2018–19, the deficit is expected to drop to $18.1 billion (compared to $18.6 billion in the update). The deficit should continue to decline gradually thereafter to $12.3 billion in 2022–23. This projection is nearly identical to the $12.5 billion deficit forecast in October for this period. As expected, the federal government has still not announced a specific plan for re-balancing the budget.