OTTAWA, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on the federal government to cut spending to balance the budget following today’s Statistics Canada report showing interest charges increased by 29 per cent over the year.  

“About 11 cents out of every single dollar from taxpayers is now going to pay interest charges on the debt,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “Taxpayers are losing out on more than $1 billion every week that can’t be used to lower taxes or improve services because that money is going to pay interest on the government credit card.”

Statistics Canada released its Government Finance Statistics report for the second quarter today.

“Interest expenses for the federal government grew 29 per cent year over year,” according to Statistics Canada. “The federal government devoted 10.9 cents of every dollar of revenue to cover interest expenses.”

The federal government projects to run a $40-billion deficit this year, according to Budget 2024. The budget also projects interest charges on the debt costing $54 billion this year, which is more than the federal government will send to the provinces in health transfers. 

The federal government won’t balance the budget until 2040, according to supplementary data released by the Parliamentary Budget Officer in its most recent Fiscal Sustainability Report. 

“This report should be a wake-up call for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,” Terrazzano said. “The feds need to cut spending and balance the budget before debt interest charges blow an even bigger hole in the budget.”