OTTAWA — Prime Minister Chretien scooped his finance minister with the announcement, stating twice during question period in the House of Commons the size of the federal surplus for the fiscal year 2000-2001 will hit $15 billion.
“We’re in the fifth year of surplus,” said Chretien, under Opposition Alliance questions about Liberal spending.
“We predicted a surplus of $10 billion and it will be … $15 billion. So we’re not going in the direction of having a deficit, we’re doing exactly the contrary at this moment.”
The federal books won’t be officially closed until fall, but private-sector economists have suggested the surplus would be between $15 billion and $17 billion.
Finance Minister Paul Martin, who missed question period due to the flu, was expected to give a reasonable estimate of the surplus when he delivers his economic update Thursday.
