OTTAWA | Prime Minister Justin Trudeau maintains that Canada’s debt is “manageable”, hours away from a much-anticipated economic update that projects a historic deficit of more than $ 300 billion.
“With historically low interest rates, the cost of this federal debt remains low, allowing our government to continue to invest in Canadians and the economy,” said Trudeau in a press release on Wednesday.
Without federal assistance, many Canadian households would have gone into considerable debt, the Prime Minister added.
“Our government has spent to minimize the indebtedness of Canadians,” he said.
More generally, the Prime Minister defended his government’s approach of “acting quickly to help Canadians” at the cost of unprecedented deficits.
“It was not the time to tighten our belts or put in place austerity policies,” he said.
Finance Minister Bill Morneau is expected to present a portrait of the economy hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic later Wednesday.
The federal deficit is expected to exceed $ 300 billion.
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