TORONTO (Reuters) – Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, forecast on Wednesday its budget deficit would narrow in the upcoming fiscal year and return to balance in 2029-30 as the economy rebounds from the coronavirus crisis.
The budget deficit remains historically wide, with additional pandemic-related spending announced, but a path back to balance could be welcomed by bond investors and credit rating agencies. The province is one of the world’s largest sub-sovereign borrowers.
The deficit is “neither sustainable nor desirable forever” but is necessary to get through the pandemic and to recover stronger, said Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy, in prepared remarks.
The deficit is seen narrowing to C$33.1 billion ($26.4 billion) in 2021-22, matching a November projection, but lower than the record C$38.5 billion deficit forecast for 2020-21, a budget document showed. The fiscal year begins on April 1.
The deficit is then seen shrinking further in future years before swinging to a modest surplus in 2029-30.
The economy is expected to grow by 4% in 2021 and 4.3% in 2022, with the pace then moderating in subsequent years. It contracted by an estimated 5.7% in 2020.
The 2021 growth forecast for the province, which is home to manufacturers and Canada’s major financial center, was less than the 4.9% pace seen in November and slightly below the average of private-sector forecasts.
With economic activity recovering, revenue is forecast to rise 1.4% to C$154 billion in the upcoming fiscal year, while expenses are seen falling to C$173 billion, a drop of 2.7%, as funding of COVID-19 programs dials back.
Still, the province announced new support measures for health and the economy. It includes C$2.3 billion more for COVID-19 testing and contact tracing in 2021-22, as well as additional money for parents and small businesses.
Pandemic-related spending was projected at C$51 billion over a four-year period, up from C$45 billion in November.
The province forecast net-debt-to-GDP rising to 48.8% in 2021-22 from 47.1% in 2020-21. It is seen peaking at 50.5% in 2024-25 before gradually declining to 46.4% in 2029-30.
Long-term public borrowing is forecast to fall to C$54.7 billion in the upcoming fiscal year from a projected C$59 billion in 2020-21.
The yield on Ontario’s 10-year bond was at 2.05% on Wednesday, down 2.1 basis points, in line with moves on other provincial bonds.
($1 = 1.2553 Canadian dollars)
Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Sonya Hepinstall
OTTAWA – The parliamentary budget officer says the federal government likely failed to keep its deficit below its promised $40 billion cap in the last fiscal year.
However the PBO also projects in its latest economic and fiscal outlook today that weak economic growth this year will begin to rebound in 2025.
The budget watchdog estimates in its report that the federal government posted a $46.8 billion deficit for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland pledged a year ago to keep the deficit capped at $40 billion and in her spring budget said the deficit for 2023-24 stayed in line with that promise.
The final tally of the last year’s deficit will be confirmed when the government publishes its annual public accounts report this fall.
The PBO says economic growth will remain tepid this year but will rebound in 2025 as the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts stimulate spending and business investment.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says the level of food insecurity increased in 2022 as inflation hit peak levels.
In a report using data from the Canadian community health survey, the agency says 15.6 per cent of households experienced some level of food insecurity in 2022 after being relatively stable from 2017 to 2021.
The reading was up from 9.6 per cent in 2017 and 11.6 per cent in 2018.
Statistics Canada says the prevalence of household food insecurity was slightly lower and stable during the pandemic years as it fell to 8.5 per cent in the fall of 2020 and 9.1 per cent in 2021.
In addition to an increase in the prevalence of food insecurity in 2022, the agency says there was an increase in the severity as more households reported moderate or severe food insecurity.
It also noted an increase in the number of Canadians living in moderately or severely food insecure households was also seen in the Canadian income survey data collected in the first half of 2023.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct 16, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales in August fell to their lowest level since January 2022 as sales in the primary metal and petroleum and coal product subsectors fell.
The agency says manufacturing sales fell 1.3 per cent to $69.4 billion in August, after rising 1.1 per cent in July.
The drop came as sales in the primary metal subsector dropped 6.4 per cent to $5.3 billion in August, on lower prices and lower volumes.
Sales in the petroleum and coal product subsector fell 3.7 per cent to $7.8 billion in August on lower prices.
Meanwhile, sales of aerospace products and parts rose 7.3 per cent to $2.7 billion in August and wood product sales increased 3.8 per cent to $3.1 billion.
Overall manufacturing sales in constant dollars fell 0.8 per cent in August.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.
