So lucky to live in such an opulent province.
Wynne defends ‘stable’ debt-to-GDP ratio ahead of more spending
Ahead of a provincial budget that is expected to go billions into the red, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is trying to shore up confidence in her province’s books.
“Our debt-to-GDP remains stable, and it is below 40 per cent,” Wynne told reporters on Monday. “Those are the metrics that we are focused on.”
In early March her Finance Minister Charles Sousa announced an about-face for the Liberal government. Just three months shy of a provincial election, the promise of balanced budgets for two more years went out the door. In its wake, the government said it could table a deficit that approaches $8 billion.
What that means for the province’s debt-to-GDP ratio is an open question. The ratio is often used to measure the sustainability of a government’s finances and, in Ontario’s case, it hasn’t returned to pre-recession levels.
As the recession hit in 2008-09 Ontario’s debt-to-GDP ratio was 27.9 per cent. In 2014-15 it peaked at 39.3 per cent and it’s projected to sit at 37.3 per cent for the current year.
If the Liberals can justify the spending to their creditors he said the government “should be fine” but if they can’t then Ontario’s interest rates “may start to creep up a little bit.”
Asked if that might be in the cards, Sousa said “we have a lot of arrows in our quiver to determine how to proceed forward.”
Following the money will help determine if the government’s spending makes sense, Moffatt said. For example he said if its in areas that will spur economic growth, like infrastructure spending, then the deficit could be rationalized.
He said in order for people to get on board, the budget will have to answer the question: “why is this new spending worth going into debt for?”
https://ipolitics.ca/2018/03/27/wynne-defends-stable-debt-to-gdp-ratio-ahead-of-more-spending/
Wynne defends ‘stable’ debt-to-GDP ratio ahead of more spending
Ahead of a provincial budget that is expected to go billions into the red, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is trying to shore up confidence in her province’s books.
“Our debt-to-GDP remains stable, and it is below 40 per cent,” Wynne told reporters on Monday. “Those are the metrics that we are focused on.”
In early March her Finance Minister Charles Sousa announced an about-face for the Liberal government. Just three months shy of a provincial election, the promise of balanced budgets for two more years went out the door. In its wake, the government said it could table a deficit that approaches $8 billion.
What that means for the province’s debt-to-GDP ratio is an open question. The ratio is often used to measure the sustainability of a government’s finances and, in Ontario’s case, it hasn’t returned to pre-recession levels.
As the recession hit in 2008-09 Ontario’s debt-to-GDP ratio was 27.9 per cent. In 2014-15 it peaked at 39.3 per cent and it’s projected to sit at 37.3 per cent for the current year.
If the Liberals can justify the spending to their creditors he said the government “should be fine” but if they can’t then Ontario’s interest rates “may start to creep up a little bit.”
Asked if that might be in the cards, Sousa said “we have a lot of arrows in our quiver to determine how to proceed forward.”
Following the money will help determine if the government’s spending makes sense, Moffatt said. For example he said if its in areas that will spur economic growth, like infrastructure spending, then the deficit could be rationalized.
He said in order for people to get on board, the budget will have to answer the question: “why is this new spending worth going into debt for?”
https://ipolitics.ca/2018/03/27/wynne-defends-stable-debt-to-gdp-ratio-ahead-of-more-spending/
