It turns out budgets really can’t balance themselves..The federal government released new figures Monday showing the deficit will be billions of dollars higher than they claimed in the election campaign just two months ago..The figures show the Liberals’ projected deficit for the year that ends in March will be a whopping $26.6 billion, up from a projected $19.8 billion..And it gets worse for 2020-2021, Finance Minister Bill Morneau said Monday, as the deficit is set to grow to 28.1 billion..Morneau put the blame for the rising deficit on changes to employee pensions and benefits and a tax break that comes into effect Jan. 1..The government hopes the increased spending will be offset by higher personal and corporate tax revenue..Despite the growing deficit, Morneau predicted the economy would not shrink and go into recession..Conservative finance critic Pierre Poilievre blasted the feds for breaking campaign promises on the deficit and the debt-to-GNP ratio..The government projects economic growth will be 1.7 per cent in 2019 and 1.6 per cent next year, the second-fastest-growing economy among G7 countries, behind the U.S..Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a memorable gaffe in the 2015 election campaign when he said the budget would balance itself..dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.Twitter: @Nobby7694
