The Conservative government will not release the federal budget until at least April, a delay meant to give Finance Minister Joe Oliver more time to assess the impact of plunging oil prices on the Canadian economy.
Mr. Oliver made the announcement Thursday in an address to the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.
“Given the current market instability, I will not bring forward our budget earlier than April. We need all the information we can obtain before finalizing our decisions,” he said, according to a copy of his prepared remarks.
The federal fiscal year begins April 1 and federal budgets are normally released in February or March.