Liberal budget makes it tougher to scrutinize fate of public purse: PBO

The federal budget watchdog says the Liberal government's inaugural budget has made it more difficult for people to scrutinize public finances.

The parliamentary budget office says in a new report that last month's budget failed to separate purely discretionary decisions, like new measures and changes in planning assumptions, from shifts in economic conditions, as past governments did.

Budget officer Jean-Denis Frechette's report also says the Liberal decision to introduce a risk adjustment that lowered the projected budgetary balance by $6 billion a year was excessive and eroded the independence of using private-sector forecasts.

Frechette says the Liberal budget shortened the traditional time horizon for government cost estimates to two years from five — which makes it difficult to fully assess the evolution of program costs.

The budget projects five years of deficits totalling more than $100 billion — which the government insists will boost long-term economic growth.

The budget office report also estimates the positive economic impact of those measures will be more modest than the Liberals predict.

The analysis projects the budget will create or maintain 86,000 jobs over the next two years, rather than the 143,000 projected by the government.

Original Article
Source: CBC
Author:  The Canadian Press