Canada's financial deficit could increase tenfold due to COVID-19: Finance Minister

Canada’s projected financial deficit could increase ten folds and the net debt could soon reach $1.2 trillion due to the ongoing pandemic, Candian finance minister Bill Morneau said. While presenting the fiscal update, the lawmaker said that it was “an unprecedented shock to the system”. The coronavirus pandemic which emerged in china has now spiralled to infect 108656 people across the Canadian territory. In addition, it has also resulted in 8797 fatalities. 

Inflated deficit 

According to reports, the earlier estimated deficit for 2020-21 was $ 34.4 billion. However, owing to the industrial shutdowns, job losses and recession in the economy, the number has now been revised to a whopping $343.2 billion. As the deficit inflates, so does the net federal debt, crossing a trillion dollars for the first time in the country’s history. Meanwhile, experts have suggested that the country's GDP is projected to decline by 6.8 per cent in 2020, placing the country in the worst situation since the great depression.

Read: China Warns Canada Of 'consequences' After Hong Kong Extradition Treaty Suspension

However, the document, which describes the striation as “truly the challenge of our lifetimes” also softened the blow by predicting a return to 5.5 per cent growth next year. The update also said, “the projected contraction in federal budgetary revenues is unprecedented since the Great Depression with an expected decline in 2020-21 more than twice as big as in 2009-10 following the global financial crisis.”

This comes as Toronto recently opened its first-ever drive-through Van Gogh exhibit, to ensure visitors maintain social distancing. Organisers of the Van Gogh Exhibit in Canada's largest city Toronto have come up with an incredibly novel ideal — offer art lovers a drive-in facility to venture out and admire famous artworks, while not having to expose themselves to the otherwise heightened possibility of COVID infection.

Read: China Condemns Canada Over Security Law Criticism

Corey Ross, a co-producer of the exhibition, speaking to a news daily in Canada stated that the show was initially scheduled for May, but was delayed due to the pandemic. "We had to think creatively," said Ross. "You've never had an experience like this in your car. The feeling is almost as if the car is floating through the art."

Read: Toronto Opens Canada's First Van Gogh Exhibit With A Surprise Twist As Lockdown Eases

Read: China Asks Canada To 'correct Mistakes' And Stop Interfering In Internal Affairs

Image credits: AP