Mr. Speaker,in accordance with the new Borrowing Authority Act enacted in November 2017 to promote transparency and accountability to Parliament, budget 2018 marked the first time the government reported on its combined market debt. The Government of Canada combined market debt includes both the government’s market debt, which consists of all outstanding treasury bills, bonds, and retail debt issued directly by the Government of Canada, as well as any market borrowings by agent crown corporations. Increases or decreases in combined market debt are driven by the financial requirements of the government and its agent crown corporations. On a year-over-year basis, combined market debt generally increases when the government and its agent crown corporations have financial requirements and decreases when there is a net positive financial source.
As reported in budget 2018, the government’s combined market debt is projected to be $1,066 billion at the end of 2018-19. This amount includes estimated government market debt of $755 billion and an estimated $311 billion in market borrowings by agent crown corporations, but does not include any assets—for example, $93 billion of liquid financial assets in Canada’s exchange fund account as of April 5, 2018--that may be purchased using the proceeds of market debt.
The 2018-19 year-end projected level of outstanding government and crown corporation market debt is not expected to surpass the current Parliamentary-approved maximum stock of $1,168 billion and, based on the budget 2018 fiscal outlook, is not projected to decline below $1 trillion within the current five-year planning horizon.