Jan 10, 2017
Infrastructure spending lags budget expectations: PBO
A new report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer says government spending increases are lagging Ottawa’s stated expectations as the federal government faces delays in finding shovel-ready infrastructure projects.
In its Q2 Expenditure Monitor, the finance watchdog said these delays risk pushing funding earmarked for 2016-17 into the years ahead. The watchdog noted Ottawa appeared to be on track over the course of the first quarter, but expenditures lagged in Q2.
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“The subsequent three months of spending data suggest actual spending of infrastructure money might be slower than assumed by the Government,” the report read. “Tellingly, infrastructure transfers administered by Transport and Infrastructure Canada fell in comparison to the previous year.”
The PBO noted that Infrastructure Canada has been “continually challenged to dispense all the infrastructure funding that Parliament gives it each year,” and estimates between 15-40 per cent of the money budgeted annually since 2009-10 for infrastructure was not spent.
Total expenditures rose 3.7 per cent to $136.5 billion over the course of the first half of the year, lagging the planned 5.6 per cent rise in spending.