APEC: Four deficits plus four provinces equals problem
Posted Mar 20, 2010 04:50:43 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Even though the recession didn’t hit the East Coast as hard as the rest of the country one group says we could still be hit by a bad economic wave. The Atlantic Provinces Economic Council is pointing to ballooning deficits, declining revenues and falling commodity prices as a problem in all four provinces.
APEC’s senior policy analyst Fred Bergman says it’s not all doom and gloom.
“The good news is if you look at the past history, the size deficits this time relative to the economy are smaller than in the last two recessions,” Bergman tells audiences on The Afternoon News with Tom Young, heard Thursday on News 95.7.
Bergman explained governments need to decrease spending, increase revenue or both to get out of the slump. But Bergman adds, it shouldn’t be too painful for taxpayers.
“If the economy rebounds, and it’s expected that it will, and we come out of the recession people can afford to bare a bit more tax. Let’s face it, if you want the services we do have to pay for those government services weather its health care, whether it’s education,” he said.
The third option is outlined in the finance minister Back-to-Balance campaign is investing in long-term economic development.
