ThePatriotLight - Freeland Mum on Deficit Fiscal Guardrail Ahead of Mini-Budget

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has yet to disclose whether her upcoming mini-budget will adhere to the guideline she set last year to prevent a deficit increase.

Freeland was asked about the projected deficit multiple times during a press conference on Dec. 10 but did not provide any information.

“I am not going to comment on anonymous rumours that are out there in the town right now,” she said.

The finance minister will present her Fall Economic Statement in the House of Commons on Dec. 16, a day before the House goes on holiday break for six weeks. Freeland wouldn’t speak on the deficit but said the debt-to-GDP ratio target would be met.

“Maintaining a declining debt-to-GDP ratio is our fiscal anchor,” Freeland said when asked about the deficit. “If your debt is declining as a share of the economy, by definition, your fiscal position is sustainable.”

Freeland’s 2023 Fall Economic Statement said Ottawa had maintained its commitment to a “fiscal anchor” since emerging from the pandemic, with the objective of reducing the federal debt as a share of the economy over the medium-term.