Budget 2023: Issues for Parliamentarians
To assist parliamentarians in their budgetary deliberations, this report highlights key issues arising from Budget 2023.
Communications
Quotes
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This was the first time since Budget 2021 that the Government revised down its outlook for the budgetary balance prior to including new measures. Following this downward revision, the Government announced $69.7 billion in new spending that was partially financed by $14.0 billion in revenue raising measures and by $12.8 billion in spending restraint measures.
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Budget 2023 does not provide an assessment of program effectiveness that the Government launched in last year’s budget under its comprehensive Strategic Policy Review, nor in my view does it identify opportunities to save and reallocate resources to adapt government programs and operations to a new post-pandemic reality.
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Despite this increase, the Government has reaffirmed the commitment to its fiscal anchor of reducing the federal debt as a share of the economy over the medium term.
Parliamentary Budget Officer