Feds could erase debt by 2060, while most provinces face bigger fiscal woes: PBO
OTTAWA — The federal government’s bottom line is on a sustainable path that could see Ottawa eliminate the national debt entirely in about 40 years, a new report from the parliamentary budget officer said Thursday.
However, the analysis highlighted far bleaker fiscal outlooks for many of the provinces, with particular long-term budgetary challenges in Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador.
While Ottawa is on track to pay off its debt by 2060, the document projects the combined debts of provincial and territorial governments to rise to over 100 per cent of gross domestic product from 28 per cent of GDP within the next 75 years under existing fiscal policies.
The office notes that these fiscal projections are not forecasts and it stresses they only show the possible consequences if governments were to maintain their current fiscal structures over the long term.