Target Practice Needed: Canada’s 2010 Fiscal Accountability Rankings
C.D. Howe Institute Backgrounder, No. 129, May 2010
12 Pages Posted: 12 Aug 2010
Date Written: May 13, 2010
Abstract
Government spending overruns and missed revenue targets remain a common occurrence in Canada. Countrywide, spending overruns by the federal, provincial and territorial governments over the past decade exceeded $70 billion, limiting debt reduction and tax relief in earlier years, and materially adding to current deficits. This fourth annual fiscal accountability ranking measures each jurisdiction’s 10-year fiscal record for bias (the average difference between budget projections and actual results) and accuracy (over-shoots and under-shoots of budget targets).
Keywords: Fiscal Policy, Canadian Federal, Provincial and Territorial Governments Fiscal Accountability Rankings
JEL Classification: E62, H11, H72
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation