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It took two months of recalibrating and consulting to decide to do nothing?

For a sneak preview of this year’s budget, please consult last year’s budget.

The upcoming federal budget will contain no new spending measures or tax cuts beyond what the Harper government has announced already in its plan to stimulate the economy, says a senior government official. The budget, to be tabled on March 4, will simply implement the second year of the “economic action plan,” the stimulus package unveiled in last year’s budget, the official told reporters in a briefing Monday.

The Star finds a government official who suggests there will indeed be spending cuts, but another government official—conceivably the same one cited by Canwest—speaks only to a reduction in the rate of growth of government spending. Economists, wordsmiths and fans of financial terminology can debate the difference, if any, between those two statements.

No word yet on whether the government, entering into an era of restraint, will cut down on the number of unnamed officials it employs.

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