Trudeau promotes spending to boost economy as economists warn of weak outlook

OTTAWA – Justin Trudeau is talking in the need for more federal spending to assist the economy on a day experts are sharing their downgraded forecasts with his government.

The prime minister says the country’s economic woes mean it’s more important than ever before for that Liberal government to spend on growth-generating projects like infrastructure.

Trudeau’s remarks in Toronto came soon after a group of private-sector economists shared their downgraded forecasts with Finance Minister Bill Morneau in a meeting just a couple kilometres away.

Related

A balanced budget by 2019/20 might be hard to find if economy is constantly on the struggle, Trudeau admitsOttawa speaking with pension funds about purchasing infrastructureFinance Minister Bill Morneau to present federal budget week of March 21: sources

Conference Board of Canada chief economist Glen Hodgson says he gave Morneau a 2016 growth forecast of just 1.7 percent – one of the most optimistic predictions within the room.

The Liberal government has promised to operate deficits within the coming years in order to spend billions on stimulus like infrastructure projects, so it expects can create jobs and help revive the economy.

But while Trudeau acknowledges government finances are even tighter compared to what they were two months ago, he has not indicated what will become from the Liberals’ many non-economic spending vows.

For decades, federal finance ministers have used an average of private-sector economic forecasts as the first step toward their fiscal plans.