Budget office says Conservative cuts achievable for now, questions longer term

OTTAWA – The Parliamentary Budget Office says federal departments did not provide it with enough information to fully assess whether Conservative budget savings are achievable.

But a new report says the data that was passed along suggests the cuts proposed in the 2012 federal spending blueprint can be reached in the short term, while long-term sustainability remains a question mark.

The report says a third of the planned $5.2 billion in annual savings is pegged to staff reductions and the government appears to be ahead of schedule in chopping the federal workforce.

Reductions in transfer payments make up 22 per cent of the planned savings, while the remaining 46 per cent is grouped under other operating expenses.

The report found that while departmental performance targets are largely unchanged, there was no data provided to explain how they would achieve those service levels with fewer resources.

As a result, the budget office says there is simply insufficient information to assess whether the Conservative budget cuts are sustainable over the longer term.