In his daily press conference of March 30, 2020, Mr. Trudeau told Canadians: “Fortunately, Canada has taken responsible decision over the past many years to have one of the best balance sheets in the G7, we’ve been making sure we have money set aside for a rainy day. Well, it’s raining we are now able to invest in Canadians” .
Although these words seem reassuring, to what extent is this statement accurate?
Well, according to a report, which was published by the “Centre of Productivity and Prosperity, Walters J. Somers Foundation, HEC” (Montreal, QC, Canada): “The situation is changing from 2015. At the cost of four consecutive budget deficits totaling $ 56.5 billion, the government is taking program spending to an all-time high in 2018, or $ 8,714 per capita.”
Source of the above data: https://cpp.hec.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/PP-2019-05.pdf (report in French).
For fun, after reading the above, Bambi became interested in comparing Canadian and Lebanese financial indicators. Mind you, this comparison would not be glorious for Canada, being as Lebanon defaulted on eurobonds on March 8, 2020.
Anyhow, for a quick comparison, she consulted the following informative CIA website to explore their most recent data, as of today (or rather tonight ?): https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2186rank.html
Canada’s public debt, calculated as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), was: “89.70% in 2017” (27th highest debt in the world; the USA was at the 34th position, if you are curious to know, like Bambi).
According to the same CIA website, Lebanon’s public debt was: “152.70% in 2017” (third highest debt in the world, after Greece and Japan).
For detailed statistics on Canada, you may wish to read the “economy” sub-part of this page: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ca.html
Based on the data cited above, to what extent are PM Trudeau’s words accurate?
You may perhaps wish to draw your own conclusion…
