Freeland avoids pouring more fuel on the inflation fire

Faced with much higher interest costs, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland outlined very little in the way of new spending measures in the Fall Economic Statement today. Most of the focus was on non-monetary housing-related policies that will have little immediate impact on affordability. While we expect the deficit and debt-to-GDP ratio to rise by a bit more than the government expects next year, we doubt that will prevent bolder fiscal action if the economy falls into a deep recession.