Report

Budget 2023: Issues for Parliamentarians

Apr 13, 2023

To assist parliamentarians in their budgetary deliberations, this report highlights key issues arising from Budget 2023.

Highlights

Revisions to the private sector economic outlook and fiscal developments in Budget 2023 lower the outlook for the budgetary balance by $26.1 billion (or $4.4 billion per year, on average) over 2022-23 to 2027-28 relative to the 2022 Fall Economic Statement.
The Government announced $69.7 billion in new spending (measured on a gross basis) that was partially offset by $14.0 billion in revenue-raising measures and by $12.8 billion in spending restraint measures. On a net basis, new measures further reduce the budgetary balance by $42.9 billion (or $7.2 billion per year, on average) over 2022-23 to 2027-28.
Budget 2023 does not provide an assessment of program effectiveness that the Government launched in Budget 2022 under Stream 1 of its comprehensive Strategic Policy Review.
Aside from proposing to reduce spending on consulting, other professional services and travel, Budget 2023 does not identify opportunities to save and reallocate resources “to adapt government programs and operations to a new post-pandemic reality” under Stream 2 of the comprehensive Strategic Policy Review launched in Budget 2022.
In Budget 2023, the Government identified $798 million—on a net basis—in new “non-announced” measures over 2022-23 to 2027-28. In absolute terms, this represents over $12 billion in either revenue or spending decisions for which there are no specific details.