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Expenditure Monitor 2016-2017 Q2.pdf

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Expenditure Monitor 2016-2017 Q2 data

Summary

Government expenditures for the first half of 2016-2017 were $136.5 billion, an increase of 3.7% over the same period last year. This growth lags the overall increase in budgeted spending (5.6%), owing to delays in implementing the Government’s economic priorities, in particular new infrastructure investments.

Government’s planned investments in infrastructure spending have not materialised in the first half of the year. Infrastructure transfers administered by Transport and Infrastructure Canada fell in comparison to the previous year (-$0.1 billion).

PBO notes that provincial capital budgets for 2016-17 have not grown commensurate with planned increases for federal infrastructure transfers. As such, there is a growing risk that money the Government originally expected to be spent in 2016-17 will be deferred to subsequent years.

These delays would be consistent with historical evidence regarding persistent lapses of planned infrastructure spending, which have been highlighted in previous PBO reports.