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OTTAWA – Finance Minister Bill Morneau and the Liberal government retreated further Tuesday from their promise to balance the books by 2019-20, saying it will be “challenging” to do and that the government is committed to returning to a balanced budget “over the long term.”

Morneau’s comments echoed a similar message last week from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who said balancing the books by the end of the four-year term will be “difficult” to do if economic growth remains sluggish.

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“Our goal is to make sure that as we make investments that are going to make a real difference for Canadians, that we do so in a way that’s prudent and that we maintain a goal of getting to a balanced budget over the long term,” Morneau told reporters Tuesday.

“We recognize that’s challenging, but that is our goal and we maintain that as an important objective.”

Billions of dollars in new spending demands are racking up for Morneau as the House of Commons finance committee holds marathon budget consultations this week, prompting more questions and concerns about how large the deficit will be in next month’s fiscal blueprint and when the government will return to black ink.