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.” This is largely a function of comparing only how the federal government responded to marked increases in revenues. For instance, total revenues between 2022-23 and 2026-27 are expected to be $78.6 billion higher than previously budgeted in theover the same period. Of that amount, $50.0 billion is being spent on new programs and increasing spending on existing programs, and the cumulated deficit over that period is now expected to be $19.7 billion lower.
However, such an analysis ignores the base year of analysis. Both 2020-21 and 2021-22 included extraordinary spending linked to COVID. A comprehensive analysis of the budget must compare revenues, spending and borrowing in 2022-23 with 2019-20, which had limited fiscal effects from COVID. It’s a way of asking and answering whether government spending and the financing required for it are returning to pre-COVID levels.
An analysis comparing taxing, spending and deficits between the current year and 2019-20 shows just how aggressively Ottawa is focused on spending. Revenues are expected to increase 22.2 per cent in 2022-23 compared to 2019-20. However, program spending is expected to increase by 25.7 per cent. Not surprisingly, the projected federal budget deficit in 2022-23 is 34.0 per cent higher than the deficit recorded in 2019-20.